![](\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/dowbrigade\/snidely.jpg\")
A great
\n many books will eventually be written about the 2004 electoral campaign. If
\n the true facts are ever unearthed (and they almost always come out sooner
\n or later), the tome on the dirty tricks and subterfuges this time should be a classic,
\n and an extremely large volume.<\/p>\n
As a long-time fan of political infighting and elegant, underhanded
\n conniving, we must say we have been impressed with the quality and creativity
\n of the trickery unleashed thus far, the best of which unfortunately cannot be analyzed
\n because it has yet to be discovered, and probably never will be. Sadly,
\n for fans of tight races, almost all of the best moves have been on one
\n side.<\/p>\n
One of the neatest tricks was actually nonpartisan, and occurred early,
\n during the heat of the primary season. According to Howard Dean, it was
\n the same thing he found most liberating in his campaign – his ability
\n to ignore the traditional sources of campaign funding thanks to millions of small contributions – that ultimately
\n doomed his effort. Unwilling to swallow a candidate they had no control
\n over, the media magnates pulled a marvelously simple yet effective hack.<\/p>\n
They took a tape of a hoarse Dean yelling to be heard in the middle of a raucous,
\n screaming crowd, and isolated the track coming just from HIS microphone.
\n filtering out all of the background roar, and making Dean sound like
\n a dangerous maniac screaming in an empty hall. They then took this filtered tape loop and
\n played it over and over and over again on all available media outlets. End of Dean candidacy.<\/p>\n
Then there was the masterful Republican maneuvering of Kerry into the minefield
\n of Vietnam. They knew that his service was a matter of honor to
\n the Senator, and if challenged on that record would be unable to resist
\n being sucked in to a petty and diversionary squabble over the particulars
\n of 30-year-old paperwork.<\/p>\n
They did this knowing full well that they had the graying but still
\n gung ho Swift Boat Veterans for the Truth waiting 30 years in ambush
\n to avenge the sense that their service was worse than unnecessary. And
\n sure enough, they burst from cover with guns blazing to question everything
\n from Kerry’s whereabouts on New Year’s Eve 1973 to the source of his
\n wounds. This was a textbook diversionary operation, and muddied the water
\n sufficiently that it became immaterial what really happened. Meanwhile,
\n the Democrats didn’t even have time to wonder where George Bush had been
\n on New Year’s Eve, 1968.<\/p>\n
But the slickest move so far, at least of those partially exposed, has
\n been the Bush Guard Document Dustup. In a move so dastardly and
\n evil that Democrats are reportedly on the verge of picking up their chips
\n and going home in the face of insurmountable Republican ingenuity, political
\n insiders are hinting that Republicans may have leaked the Rather documents
\n themselves.<\/p>\n
What, they ask, would the Republicans do if they knew that these documents The joke is that most of the voters already<\/em> believe that George The sad fact is that Kerry seems totally unprepared to fight back on But Kerry seems to be paralyzed by the fear that if he makes any bold All’s fair in love and politics, John. This is no time to be honorable.<\/p>\n Pull yourself together, man. Get up off the floor and do something A great many books will eventually be written about the 2004 electoral campaign. If the true facts are ever unearthed (and they almost always come out sooner or later), the tome on the dirty tricks and subterfuges this time should … Continue reading
\n existed and were afraid they would fall into the hands of the Democrats,
\n or already had and the Dems were waiting for the most opportune moment
\n to unveil them? What if they took the memos, and copied them over on
\n computers into a format easily detectable as fake, and then slipped them
\n to their old nemesis Dan? Well, maybe not easily<\/em> detectable,
\n because that would be a giveaway, but open to convincing debunking by
\n experts. Not only would it defuse the content of those memos, but it
\n would simultaneously throw into doubt all of the other evidence of Bush’s
\n corner cutting in the National Guard, and embarrass Dan Rather to boot. Brilliant!<\/p>\n
\n Bush got help from his Dad to get into the Guard, and slipped out early
\n after absorbing a million dollars of flying lessons from Uncle Sam. And
\n they don’t care. They probably would have done the same themselves.
\n But the continual stream of documents pointing out example after example
\n of Bush’s lies and contradictions might gradually wear down Bush’s trustworthiness
\n factor, which could be dangerous to the cause. No worries about that
\n now!<\/p>\n
\n this level. With the flagging economy and the daily building disaster
\n in Iraq, Bush has left himself open to a series of devastating counter-attacks,
\n on jobs, on energy policy and its connection to the war, on the money
\n for the war and where it went, on the Bush family relation with the Saudis,
\n on the continued activities of Bin Laden, and a dozen other topics.<\/p>\n
\n moves or even says anything strong or categorical, it will backfire
\n on him and he will end up losing more support than he gains. We certainly
\n hopes he wises up and has a dirty few tricks of his own up his sleeve. If
\n not, this race will be over long before election day.<\/p>\n
\n sleazy and unexpected. We’re counting on you to make this a horse race,
\n not a Texas stampede.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"