The Washington Post turned to five people to assess last night's VP debate for its “Topic A” feature:

Political analysts, pollsters and others assess Joe Biden and Sarah Palin's debate. Here are contributions from: Carter Eskew, Greg Mueller, Jeremy Lott, Ed Rogers, Douglas E. Schoen.

Here's how the Post described the five:

Eskew: “Chief strategist for Al Gore's 2000 presidential campaign”

Mueller: “Republican strategist; former senior aide to Steve Forbes's and Pat Buchanan's presidential campaigns; president of CRC Public Relations”

Lott: Author of 'The Warm Bucket Brigade: The Story of the American Vice Presidency'"

Rogers: “White House staffer to Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush; group chairman of BGR Holding”

Schoen: “Democratic pollster and author of 'Declaring Independence: The Beginning of the End of the Two-Party System'”

Looks pretty balanced, right? Two Democrats, two Republicans, and a neutral expert on the Vice Presidency (Lott.)

Except ... Jeremy Lott has been assistant managing editor for the far-right American Spectator, a fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and was Manager of Editorial Services at the Cato Institute.

Given his right-wing bona fides, is it any surprise Lott praised Palin's performance and panned Biden's?

Of course not. Lott is anything but the neutral observer the Post led readers to think he is.