Obama Says He Won’t Be Swiftboated
It’s a shame that “swiftboating” has become a verb. Obama’s campaign may already feel it’s waited too long to respond to some of the attacks. But now they’re getting ready for people like David Bossie.
Operatives such as David Bossie, whose Citizens United group made the Willie Horton ad that helped sink Michael Dukakis’s 1988 presidential bid, are sharpening knives as expectations mount that Obama will be their target in the fall. Bossie says he is assembling material for TV spots about Obama’s ties with (Bill) Ayers, a Chicago professor and unrepentant former member of the Weather Underground, a group that bombed several government buildings to protest the Vietnam War.
Dave “Doctor” Gonzo has the dossier on Bossie at American Politics Journal:
- As executive director of Citizens United chairman Floyd Brown’s “Presidential Victory Committee,” he used taped conversations allegedly between then-Governor Bill Clinton and Gennifer Flowers as part of an advertising and “800″ number scheme to smear Clinton. The tapes have since been discredited because they were edited and doctored. A direct mailing from Citizens United using this material was made to look as if it were an “official” mailing from Bush campaign — and the Bush people alerted the FEC to the mailings in an effort to stop them!
- David Corn reports in the May 6, 1998 issue of Salon that “at one point, Bossie got into a fistfight in Arkansas with a private detective who claimed Bossie had welshed on a $10,000 payment for anti-Clinton material.”
- That same year, Bossie harassed the family of a suicide victim. “An anonymous and untraceable letter” was faxed to some 30 news organizations “claiming Clinton had had an affair with a former law student who committed suicide 15 years ago,” an “emotionally distraught young woman, seven-months pregnant” named Susan Coleman. Only after the fact of the fax campaign did Bossie attempt to contact the family for “confirmation,” and did so in a repetitive and unrelenting manner suggestive more of harrassment than fact-checking. Bossie, with help from former Washington DC police officer James Murphy, went so far as to follow Susan’s mother to a hospital in Augusta, Georgia, where her husband was seriously ill and recovering from a stroke. They “burst into the sick man’s room and began questioning the shaken mother about her daughter’s suicide.” (Source: CBS News, July 13, 1992, quoted at The Allodium web site)
Maybe it’s Bossie who should be “swiftboated”.
I have a better Idea
April 20th, 2008 at 11:31 pm
Obama is running an interesting campaign.
When Obama got into trouble for saying positive things about Ronald Reagan he was advised to spell out all the Reagan-negatives.
He didn’t.
Obama extolled the virtues of reaching across the aisle and hoped people would see why he admired the trait.
When Obama got into trouble about Reverend Wright, he was advised to drop the old coot, and disavow him as fast as possible.
He didn’t.
Obama extolled the virtues of Wright’s 30 years of pastoring life outside the 20 second loop. Then Obama gave a historic speech about race in America showing himself to not exist embroiled in racism but able to elevate the controversy into healing by understanding the issue better than many and most.
When Obama got into trouble for saying poor rural voters are now bitter and vote on gun issues and religious issues, his comments were framed by the press to mean “Obama says voters cling (a weakness) to religion and guns (a condescension)”
Obama was told to nullify the damage done by apologizing, retracting, and admitting the comments were a mistake.
He didn’t.
Obama extolled the comments as the truth. He fought against Hillary Clinton and Mcain and stood by the spirit of the words if he regretted the terms “bitter” and “cling” (perhaps angry and grasp?)
Whether you like Obama or not, it is a factual assumption to say Barack has spent his life campaigning for his message of “Unity, Hope, Change”.
Whether you agree with Obama or not, it would be improper to believe that Barack has ever shown a small action of intolerance, dishonesty, or impetuousness.
And whether you vote for Barack Obama or not it is foolish and sinful to ignore the facts, truth and measure of a man in order to satiate a personal need, agenda, or bias.
April 21st, 2008 at 12:16 am
Obama WILL be swift boated by the liberal press. Any bets ? My $ is on the press.
April 21st, 2008 at 1:19 am
Oh wait, if this guy gets on the Sean Hannity show..
he will be called a ‘GREAT AMERICAN’ by the high school diploma/college drop out Sean hannity.
LOL
April 21st, 2008 at 2:06 am
As far as I’ve heard, Obama never claimed to be a deservedly dedicated veteran whose military experience qualified him to lead the nation, so I’d have to say the chances of anyone challenging him on these things he hasn’t claimed is zero. I’ll have to agree - Obama won’t be swiftboated.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:40 am
You can, however, bet the ranch that every slimmy attack ad with he ’showcased’
by Hannity and the rest of the right wing talking heads.
April 21st, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Noel:
Apparently the issues such as the war in Iraq, the tanking economy, the mortgage crisis, etc., mean nothing to you and your vote is decided by the company a candidate keeps. Thank God 75% of the US citizens are a bit more intelligent and will vote for what’s best for the country and not the jewelry (remember the flag pin crap?) one wears.
April 21st, 2008 at 2:33 pm
“Louie the Liberal”~ why are you always picking on the fact that Hannity didn’t finish college? Who the hell cares? I get sick of his scared conservative ‘the country is going to hell in a socialist hand basket thanks to the liberals’, but I’m not sure why the college thing matters. Isn’t the fact that he doesn’t have a college degree a testament to the fact that you can educate yourself in other ways (like self-study) and succeed? I’m not really defending him, just not getting why you keep going back to that.
I didn’t know what ’swiftboating’ was, so far all others coming to Alan’s blog who are unsure: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiftboating
But here’s the thing- hasn’t he ALREADY been swiftboated with the William Ayers issue? (I do not include Rev. Wright, b/c I believe that was a totally valid reason to question his religious/philosophical beliefs, which would most likely effect his political actions.)
April 21st, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Annie,
It’s not nice to insult someone who has different political views than yourself, especially since you obviously haven’t read my post.
2 words: READING COMPREHENSION
Your preaching to the choir sweetheart, my post shows Barack Obama as a man who refuses to simply submit and cower in the face of adversity.
It shows he has a backbone, and a solid vision in what he believes and has proven he is willing to fight for it.
April 22nd, 2008 at 12:32 am
I still vote for keelhauling Bossie.
April 22nd, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Wheelies, you’re crazy! I followed that link the other night to see what you were talking about. But it does kind of seem like just punishment, considering how dirty the Repubs play. (I haven’t seen the Dems get as dirty as the Repubs do.)
April 22nd, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Well, I’m independent, in a sickeningly fence sitting way at times. I don’t know who’s worse. What I do know is that I don’t want McCain in there, and I don’t care what the correct or intended phrasing of the 100 year presence in Iraq was. If you indicate any degree of comfort with that, than, well, I’m not voting for you.
April 22nd, 2008 at 4:47 pm
than, then, whichever.
April 22nd, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Dave Bossie is a proven mud-slinger. He has no credentials, no education, no true public service. He collects donations to spew hate and negativity. He represents the very worst of the political process. Why any reputable public servant or media gives him a forum defies logic. It is just disheartening. He should be ashamed of how he has wasted his life, the donations of fools, and our time.
May 11th, 2008 at 10:09 am
Amen. Dave Bossie is a fraud and hopefully the IRS will investigate how get solicits and utilizes money.
May 11th, 2008 at 10:11 am