On the verbing of nouns and other crimes against erudition

[mcroft]

The Chicago Sun-Times has steadily efforted to chip away at the pedestal on which supporters and the media have placed Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), the perch from which he happily mulls a run for the White House.

--TPM Muckraker

Dear TPM Muckraker,
Regardless of the substance of the comment you make or the substance of the efforts by the Chicago Sun-Times, the above sentence is a dreadful mess. Please substitute a more reputable verb, consider the advantages of using more than one sentence, and don't needlessly mix the perch/pedestal metaphors.

No love,
Me