Tuesday, August 24, 2004
Swift Boat Ads Are Not Without Precedent...
According to a great editorial in the L.A. Times, the Republican party has a rich history of baseless smears against perceived threats to their power. The author points out that the method of smear is also eerily simliar to others in years gone by...
The technique President Bush is using against John F. Kerry was perfected by his father against Michael Dukakis in 1988, though its roots go back at least to Sen. Joseph McCarthy. It is: Bring a charge, however bogus. Make the charge simple: Dukakis "vetoed the Pledge of Allegiance"; Bill Clinton "raised taxes 128 times"; "there are [pick a number] Communists in the State Department." But make sure the supporting details are complicated and blurry enough to prevent easy refutation.
The key lies in the compliance of the media. In the case of the Swift Boat ads, national media sources (CNN, MSNBC, etc...) have been more than happy to make sure the ads are given FREE exposure on their airwaves during their programming. I've seen the ads several times already, and I'm not even in a battleground state where they're actually being aired on regular broadcasting.
The author goes on to point out why the charges levied at John Kerry by Bob Dole are particularly embarrassing, and frankly, a little desperate:
Why would Dole put that makeover in jeopardy — and tarnish his own heroism and sacrifice — by starting a grotesque game of wound one-upmanship on behalf of George W. Bush, who never suffered anything worse during his (intermittent) service in the Texas Air National Guard than a hangover?
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