I’ll accept your interpretation of “brought him down to the level of the common politician” as bashing, althought it was intended as an expression of disappointment. A better wording would have been “brought my image of him down to the level of the common politician”
The second, is an expression of regret, nothing more.
I'll buy that. I'm of the mind this was Fred's plan all along. Taking the commie populist to task was a necessary evil that had to be done. Next up is McCain (I hope).