Swiftboating

Obama Can Use Humor to Connect with Voters and Corner McCain

Jonathan Leigh Solomon | Posted 10.07.2008 | Entertainment

Read More: John McCain, Debate, Barack Obama, Bill Ayers, McCain Maverick, Ronald Reagan, Political Humor, Swiftboating, Henny Youngman, Jokes, Tv, Putin, Political Speeches, Nashvile, TV Advertising, Presidential Debates, Entertainment News
Jonathan Leigh Solomon

The crowd always has the power - the power to not give the comedian the laugh. If you want people to elect you leader, it's best to avoid putting yourself in a position of having less power.

Read Post

Political Lies and American Democracy

Geoffrey R. Stone | Posted 09.15.2008 | Politics

Read More: Politics, Swiftboating, Lies, Corporate Media, Lies in Politics, Mccain Lies, 2008 Election, Politics News
Geoffrey R. Stone

One function of a free press in a self-governing society is to tell the truth, which is why those who embrace a strategy of political lying make a concerted effort to denigrate the credibility of the press.

Read Post

Send Us Sleaze And Smears

Off The Bus | Posted 09.11.2008 | Home

Read More: Election Sleaze, Swiftboating, Election Smears, Gop Tricks 2008, Democratic Tricks 2008, Dirty Campaigns, Dirty Tricks Campaign, Election Dirty Tricks, Home News
Off The Bus

Simply put on some gloves, hold your nose, scan the sleaze and then email or fax us the copies of these specimens of American political mailings. After we get it, we'll put it online at OffTheBus, HuffPost's citizen-produced presidential campaign news site.

Read Post

How Will the Right Try to Destroy Dr. Philip Butler?

Marty Kaplan | Posted 09.02.2008 | Politics

Read More: Swiftboating, John McCain, Philip Butler, Mccain Hanoi, Dr. Philip Butler, Mccain Hanoi Hilton, Politics News
Marty Kaplan

Dr. Philip Butler spent eight years at the Hanoi Hilton, nearly six of them with John McCain. What does he think about the POW experience as preparation for the White House?

Read Post

Swiftboating '08: While The Democrats Are Away...

Nathaniel Bach | Posted 08.26.2008 | Home

Read More: Bittergate, Democratic Convention, Swiftboating, John McCain, Karl Rove, Tony Rezko, Bill Ayers, Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama, Offthebus, Mccain Swiftboat, McCain Rove, Home News
Nathaniel Bach

In a week in which Democrats and the national media are focused on the Convention and the surrounding protests/parties/circus, it's worth keeping one eye on what's happening on local television in the swing states.

Read Post

How Do Republicans Win Elections: Meet Harold Simmons, Reactionary Billionaire Smearmeister Who Buys Them

Howie Klein | Posted 08.24.2008 | Politics

Read More: Swiftboating, Harold Simmons, Politics News
Howie Klein

Since posting about reactionary billionaire, swift boat funder, and hate-monger Harold Simmons yesterday, we've had more than a dozen e-mails from peo...

Read Post

How Should Obama Respond? A Third Way to End the Sliming

Joel Weinberger | Posted 08.22.2008 | Politics

Read More: Psychological Science, Obama Nation, Attack Ads, Barack Obama, Corsi, Swiftboating, Obama Swiftboat, Obama Muslim, Obama Osama, Drew Westen, Obama Smears, Politics News
Joel Weinberger

Obama is refuting charges against him in an effort not to repeat the mistake of the Kerry campaign -- but this just substitutes a new mistake for the old one.

Read Post

Jerome Corsi's Long Strange, Trip

Max Blumenthal | Posted 08.21.2008 | Politics

Read More: Racial Politics, Swiftboating, Islam, John McCain, Conservatives, Barack Obama, 2008 Presidential Race, Conspiracy, Race, Corsi, Republicans, Jerome Corsi Obama Book, The Obama Nation, Jerome Corsi, Politics News
Max Blumenthal

Corsi's success represents the apotheosis of a long, strange trip from the farther shores of the right into the national spotlight.

Read Post

T. Boone Pickens: From Swift Boater To Pluralist

Larry Gellman | Posted 08.19.2008 | Politics

Read More: Jewish Wisdom, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, John McCain, T. Boone Pickens, Aspen, Swift Boat, Alternative Energy, Talmud, Aspen Institute, Renewable Energy, Energy Policy, Barack Obama, T. Boone Pickens Wind Turbines, Swiftboating, Pluralism, Swift Boat Veterans, Jewish, 2008 Presidential Race, Natural Gas, Pickens Plan, Energy, Politics News
Larry Gellman

In just a few years Pickens has moved from being a totally partisan political animal to a man who is looking for the partial truth in the disparate views of a variety of people.

Read Post

Swift Boat Author Smears Self

Bruce McCall | Posted 08.15.2008 | Politics

Read More: Swiftboating, Jerome Corsi Obama Book, The Obama Nation, Humor, Jerome Corsi, Political Humor, Memoir, Politics News
Bruce McCall

His next written effort, Corsi notes, involves hatchet jobs on all six of the most prominent Democratic vice presidential candidates, "just to be ready."

Read Post

Memo to Right-Wing Donors -- This is Who You're Getting in Bed With

Tom Matzzie | Posted 08.15.2008 | Politics

Read More: Swiftboating, Jerome Corsi Obama Book, Obama, John McCain, Mccain, Barack Obama, Jerome Corsi, Politics News
Tom Matzzie

Let's review some of what we know about Corsi: he cavorts with white supremacists, he is a known plagiarist (according to a conservative!), and he is a 9/11 conspiracy theorist.

Read Post

Swiftboating Sells -- But Only if We're Buying

Marie Wilson | Posted 08.13.2008 | Politics

Read More: Swiftboating, Obama, Media, Mccain, Barack Obama, Politics News
Marie Wilson

Obama Nation is the latest offering by Jerome R. Corsi, the infamous quasi-journalist who caused irrevocable damage to Kerry's 2004 campaign with his widely-discredited Unfit for Command.

Read Post

Jerome Corsi's Shameless Hatchet Job on Barack Obama

Joseph A. Palermo | Posted 08.05.2008 | Politics

Read More: Michelle Obama, John McCain, Jerome Corsi, David Axelrod, Barack Obama, Republican Smear Machine, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, Swiftboating, Books, Book Reviews, Obama Smears, Politics News
Joseph A. Palermo

Corsi's biggest claim to fame is co-authoring the infamous Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Judging from the shrill and paranoid tone of his latest effort I get the impression Obama has really scared these guys this time.

Read Post

The Swiftboaters Are Back: GOP Funds Group With Finance Law Loophole

Talking Points Memo | Posted 07.03.2008 | Politics

Read More: Barack Obama Swiftboat, John McCain, Obama Swiftboat, Swiftboating, Mccain Swiftboaters, McCain Swift Boat, McCain Feingold, Swiftboat Veterans, John McCain Swiftboaters, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, John Mccain Swift Boat, Politics News

The "Swift Boaters" from 2004 are back at it. A group of top Republican contributors who financially fueled the famous "Swift Boat" campaign ads that...

Read Whole Story

Sununu Front Group Attacks Shaheen in New Hampshire

Kathy Sullivan | Posted 07.01.2008 | Politics

Read More: Americans for Job Security, Swiftboating, Jeanne Shaheen, Attack Ads, New Hampshire, Politics News
Kathy Sullivan

Americans for Job Security is running attack ads against Shaheen during an election year, yet claiming that it is not trying to influence an election, and refusing to release the names of its members or its donors.

Read Post

Karl Rove's Big Lie

Nina Darnton | Posted 07.01.2008 | Politics

Read More: Swiftboating, Communism, Karl Rove, Karl Rove Lies, Propaganda, Barack Obama Elitist, Swiftboating Obama, Politics News
Nina Darnton

In Communist Poland, even when the government told the truth, the public had been conditioned not to believe anything it said. If the Republican propaganda machine isn't careful, it risks the same fate.

Read Post

McCain Taking Donations From Swift Boaters

USA Today | Posted 07.01.2008 | Politics

Read More: Mccain Swift Boat Veterans, Mccain Donors, McCain Swiftboating, Swiftboating, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, John McCain, Swift Boat Veterans, Politics News

Republican John McCain, who four years ago condemned independent ads challenging Democrat John Kerry's military record, has accepted nearly $70,000 fo...

Read Whole Story

Memo to Obama: Moving to the Middle is for Losers

Arianna Huffington | Posted 06.30.2008 | Politics

Read More: McCain Maverick, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, Swiftboating, John McCain, George Stephanopoulos, Straight Talk Express, John Kerry, John Kerry Swiftboating, John Kerry Obama, 2008 Election, Barack Obama, Politics News
Arianna Huffington

By running to the middle in an attempt to attract undecided swing voters, the Obama campaign is making a very serious mistake. It didn't work for Al Gore in 2000. It didn't work for John Kerry in 2004. And it didn't work when Mark Penn convinced Hillary Clinton to do it in 2008. READ MORE Seven Things Barack Obama Should Do to Keep from Blowing It To counter the conventional wisdom pundits, the cautious campaign advisers, and his own inner cautiousness, I'm offering Obama seven suggestions for staying true to the vision that took him from longshot "unlikely candidate" to presidential frontrunner. READ MORE Watch Arianna Discussing Secretary Rice's "Proud" Comment on CNN's The Situation Room

Read Post

By Any Means Necessary

Jonathan Leigh Solomon | Posted 06.20.2008 | Politics

Read More: Supreme Court, White House, Al Gore, 3 a.M., Swiftboating, Chicago, November, John Corzine, Contributors, Bush, Willie Horton, 2008, Richard Nixon, Reverend Wright, Pat Buchanan, Joseph Welch, Florida, John McCain, Karl Rove, Joe Mccarthy, Michael Bloomberg, Texas, 2000, Presidency, Machiavelli, Boss Tweed, Decency, Lee Atwater, Ross Perot, Campaign Funds, Skullduggery, Moralist, Realpolitik, $270 Million, Lyndon Johnson, Steve Forbes, Bring Us Together," Howard Beale, Barack Obama, John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, "Landslide Lyndon, Hypocrite, Politics News
Jonathan Leigh Solomon

Barack Obama has gone back on his word, Barack Obama is a hypocrite ... I couldn't be happier. Truth is, if what's necessary to win in November is some outright cheating, I'd be all for that, too.

Read Post

Obama Must Accept McCain's Town Hall Challenge

Paul Peete | Posted 06.16.2008 | Home

Read More: Iran, Swiftboating, Town Hall, War, Iraq, Obama, Mccain, Challenge, Conservative, Swiftboat, Charlie Black, Iraq War, Election 2008, Offthebus, Home News
Paul Peete

The only modern way to combat this powerful, entrenched, well-financed conservative cabal is to create public outrage. After sleeping through the bloodless coup the 2000 elections turned out to be, Americans have tuned into the battle between Hillary and Barack that kept us listening, talking and taking sides. Obama must re-ignite that excitement by engaging McCain in the most democratic of forums.

Read Post

Swift Boat Vets' PR Firm Now Pushing Abstinence-Only Campaign

Think Progress | Posted 06.03.2008 | Living

Read More: Valerie Huber, Swiftboating, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, Abstinence Only, Swift Boat Veterans, Abstinence Education, Parents for Truth, National Abstinence Education Association, Swiftboat, Parents for Truth Campaign, Living News

On Sunday, the Washington Post reported that the National Abstinence Education Association (NAEA) is launching a $1 million "Parents for Truth" campai...

Read Whole Story

The Swiftboating of Anne Boleyn

Robin Maxwell | Posted 05.09.2008 | Entertainment

Read More: The Tudors, The Other Boleyn Girl, Swiftboating, Anne Boleyn, Entertainment News
Robin Maxwell

As far as I'm concerned, Anne Boleyn was the first feminist. So I say to her detractors, "Take your swiftboats, sail back into history, and find someone else to pillory."

Read Post

Obama Files F.E.C. Complaint Against Pro-Clinton "Swiftboat" Group

M.S. Bellows, Jr. | Posted 04.30.2008 | Home

Read More: American Leadership Project, Matt Pierce, Swiftboating, 527s, 527, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Swiftboat, Indiana Primary, Indiana, America Leadership Project Obama, FEC Obama, Bob Bauer, FEC Swiftboat, ALP Clinton, Alp Obama, American Leadership Project Clinton, Political Committee FEC, Swiftboating Obama, Attack Ads, Home News
M.S. Bellows, Jr.

In filing the FEC complaint, the Obama camp is sending a message that "Swiftboat"-style groups will not be free to ignore the revised laws governing such groups as the general election heats up.

Read Post

Learn from Baseball and Don't Air Bad Behavior

Dave Winer | Posted 04.25.2008 | Politics

Read More: Swiftboating, Attack Ads, Illegal Campaign Contributions, North Carolina Republican Party, Attack Ad Videos, North Carolina Attack Ads, Politics News
Dave Winer

If attack ads weren't granted so much free air time by news networks, perhaps fewer of them would even be produced.

Read Post

Reading The Pictures: The Wimp Factor-y

Michael Shaw | Posted 04.21.2008 | Media

Read More: Swiftboating, Politics, Obama, Campaign '08, Wimp Factor, Kerry, Newsweek, Obama Wimp, John Kerry, John Kerry Wimp, Barack Obama, Media News
Michael Shaw

2008-04-21-shaw_kerry_wimp.jpgIt's not that "Obama is starting to look more like Kerry," so much as "The Factory" is cranking up the campaign to make it look that way.

Read Post