I don’t see it that way. Here’s my take.
They all know he won and are in full desperation mode.
The writer, Ed Rogers, likely expressed his true thoughts and then split the scene before he realized he was supposed to write attack-crap.
Or he is their token ‘fair & balanced’ reporter to dispute their overt bias when the other WaPo writers pile on Trump 15 to 1.
I won’t disagree, but the piece was serious anti hillary, anti DNC propaganda line