This issue of tactic not strategy is the one thing all those Democrats are falling over themselves to not understand.
The strategy is to use the money of extremely wealthy Republicans, T. Boone Pickens, Bob Perry, men who invest in projects created by right wing consultants and strategists. Invest I say because the payout that they receive from winning the election is a tremendous return on investment. This is why Sam Fox, our nation’s Ambassador to Belgium can truthfully claim that he didn’t know he was funding veteran attacks on John Kerry. He was committing money to the strategy, the tactics and the execution? He had no idea.
The strategy then is to use the money to attack and destroy and ridicule the Democratic opposition in a race. With the Swift Boat Veterans, it was attacking John Kerry’s military record. With Democrats last cycle and the Economic Freedom Fund, funded with $5,000,000 of Bob Perry’s money, it was to go off the “Democrats will raise taxes” mantra.
The strategy is to lie and diminish and attack Democrats, always has been, always will be. Jimmy Carter, Walter Mondale, Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, all greatly impacted by this strategy, none swiftboated.
John Kerry, of course, was swiftboated.
Here are just a quick list of some of the absolutely unique factors that created the Swift Boat success that will not be repeated in 2004.
John Kerry’s service in Vietnam, opposition to the war and 30+ years of Republican push-back to that opposition.
There is a famous picture of John O’Neill with Richard Nixon in the White House from 1972 when Charles Colson first set up O’Neill as a front to deflect attention from John Kerry’s efforts. Charles Colson went to jail, Richard Nixon resigned, John O’Neill made a career out of being a ‘counter-foil’ – Colson’s words, to John Kerry.
The timing of the convention.
August 2004 was when the Kerry Campaign had to conserve money for the general election. The Republicans knew this and timed the attack perfectly.
The failure of John Kerry to respond, personally and with full force.
Politicians and their advisors have learned this lesson, perhaps too well. Now, Democrats over-react and fight back too hard and too fast ironically.
The emerging status of new media in 2004.
New media was emerging but was not yet the more fully-formed political movement that it is now. Lies were rapidly spread then, but not as rapidly debunked as they are now.
There is much, much more, the war in Iraq, George Bush’s own military record, 9/11, and so on.
But that was then, a moment in time when a real war hero was running against an incumbent President with a questionable record, and the Republicans put together an incredibly-brilliant, once-in-a-lifetime, plan and executed it.
It will never happen again.
And just as Democrats in 2004 poured money into Florida only to lose Ohio as well, so now, we seem obsessed with beating the swiftboaters.
They won.
Now, we need to look forward, not back.
Let me repeat that, they won. They won in August 2004 and as much as we want to keep fighting them, it’s over, done. John Kerry is not President. And all of the groups, focus, lamenting and 20/20 hindsight, mine including, will not, change this core fact.
They won.
Now there is a different battle, the strategy has not changed but the tactics will.
We, collectively, we have 90 days to game plan and create a fight back group that will fight the next war, not the last one.
We can all do this by thinking about the future not the past. How will they attack Hillary or Barack? And how will you defend and fight back that attack? Will they go to Barack’s strength – his oratorical skills where he has already exposed himself? I’m sure they will.
Will there be blatant racism we need to shine the light on? Yes.
Will there be blatant sexims we need to shine the light on? Yes
Will they go after Hillary’s White House years and the Vince Foster rumors? Absolutely.
But none of that is swiftboating. None of that will be organized by the right, but there is something that appears like it will be.
… the NYT with their unsubstantiated McCain attack, with them allowing the ill conceived Petreus/Betraus flap that blew up in Move On’s Face speaks to a willingness on both sides to dive in to that lowest of cesspools of discourse because of some perceived cause and effect. The ultimate in the Rovian philosophy that determined you only need to reach 50% plus one.
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p>I do not disagree that whoever should be ready for it but it is that lowering standard that is at issue and we are all the lesser for it.
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That’s why I support a candidate who is ‘less’ willing to sink to that level. A candidate who is not depending on 527’s to close the $$ gap and run negative adds. A candidate who wants to bring people together instead of Devide & Conquer.
… to add a candidate who is only giving nuanced responses to McCain’s challenge to use only Public Election funding.
Is McCain using public financing now? No, he’s trying to do everything he can to get out of it. When the guy asking for unilateral disarmament of private funding isn’t actually walking the walk now, why trust the guy?
Why would Obama give up one of his best assets? The fact that his financing has come from nearly ONE MILLION private doners says a lot about his unifying nature and appeal.
Too friggin bad if McCain can’t get enough special interests and rich bwoys to back his campaign. It just speaks to his weaknesses.
that swiftboating was an anti-Kerry one-off.
Actually I know Max well, and he was viciously attacked by the ad group now working for McCain – but he was not swiftboated.
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p>And the big issue is looking forward not back 6 years
That ad group eviscerated a war hero who left limbs on the battlefield! They took a solid reputation and reframed it into cowardice and soft on terrorism. I’d call that Swiftboating. What would you call it?
Your focus on fighting the next battle is well said and right on the mark.
But the issue of whether or not ‘Swiftboating’ is a tactic or a strategy seems secondary to me. It’s already well established in the popular vernacular as a pejorative, but it isn’t necessarily used in the way that you define it.
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p>Fighting semantic battles as to whether or not Max Cleland, Jack Murtha or Jim Webb is/will be ‘Swiftboated’, merely serves to detract from your overall point IMHO.
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p>The GOP money, the 527’s, the media whores, it’s all still right here, and not going away. As you rightly point out, the next fight is where the focus should be.
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I think the focus is misplaced.
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p>If the Dems are focusing on “How do we fight back,” it’s the wrong focus. This year, we have the money and we have the star power. The strategy should be “How do WE control the dialogue and how do WE frame John McCain to the public?”
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p>With all the advantages the Dems have this year, we should actually be able to play offense for once instead of perpetually worrying about how the Republicans are going to attack. Unless there’s that positive and affirmative message coming from the Democrats, we’re always going to let the Republicans get in the game by default simply by being more passive and more defensive than the other side.
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p>And considering that we have the popular policy messages and the mandate for change, there’s no reason that we should lose this presidential election.
and part of what I am suggesting, we prepare and look forward instead of looking behind in the rear view mirror, where, as you know, objects may be closer than they appear
the Democratic Party has wasted an incredible amount of enerty bashing Hillary Clinton, when they should’ve really been out debating and discussing the realy issues that face everybody.
Want to back that one up with something? How and when has the democratic party been bashing Clinton?
Both Dem candidates have come under scruitiny, but the fact is that Hillary has spent more energy attacking Obama.
And, since the Dems have come under scrutiny and therefore have gotten off of Hillary, she’s turned right around and begun bashing somebody else. Victims beget victimizers and more victims.