That's it in a nutshell isn't it? Democrat-allied group runs distortive and disgusting attack message (NARAL Ad), and get nailed by their fellow Dems for the lie. So they withdraw it. Republican-allied group runs distortive and disgusting attack message (SBVT), and not a single GOPer bats an eye. So they win an election.
Kevin Drum has more. And I for one, am at a loss. I detest this sort of evil, manipulative, predatory politiking that characterizes Swift Boats. And yet, damn it all to hell, it works. You can't win without it anymore.
And the bad mood continues...
That's cause the SBVT were smart. They lied about information that either required a set of FOIA request to get to, had no eyewitnesses or eyewitnesses which were willing to agree with them, or were matters of opinion.
ReplyDeleteFor example, saying you didn't like a guy 20 years ago (the first ad) is slimy, but not particularly large of a lie. The remaining ads may have been manipulative and predatory, but they weren't outright lies on anything that could be checked quickly. SBVT probably didn't even know whether or not they were lying themselves - that's the reason the ad was so sleazy in the first place - while NARAL lied about something that was a matter of public record, and that's just not good for the policy.
And, btw, the Swift Boaters were denounced by the GOPers - McCain said the group's ads were "dishonest and dishonorable, [and] I think it is very, very wrong". Other middleground Republicans actually came out and asked the group to stop. McCain's a potential runner for the 2008 Presidential election (although I'd personally have to throw my vote away if he won the nomination), so you can't say he's not a senior Republican.