The "Swiftboating" Of Mitt Romney

The term "swiftboating" is an expression that has become synonymous with deceptive and untrue political attacks that were originally used with devastating effect against presidential candidate John Kerry in 2004. In 2012, the dark art of "swiftboating" appears to have a new practitioner, and this time it's the most unlikely of candidates -- Barack Obama.

The nonpartisan group Factcheck.org has investigated the claims made by President Obama stating that Mitt Romney, during his time at Bain Capital, outsourced jobs overseas. Factcheck.org researched the issue and found the president's claims to be untrue and based on evidence that was "weak or non-existent." The organization released an additional statement after The Boston Globe published its much ballyhooed report. Factcheck continued to say they saw "little new in any of these SEC filings" and that "none of the SEC filings show that Romney was anything but a passive, absentee owner during that time, as both Romney and Bain have long said." The Washington Post fact-checker, Glenn Kessler, also refuted the accusations: "Just because you are listed as an owner of shares does not mean you have a managerial role." There have also been several legal and economic scholars that have weighed in who also find the claims against Romney to be dubious. Yet, President Obama continues to run the deceptive attack ads anyway. It appears that the promises of "Hope & Change" have been totally thrown out of the Obama re-election campaign.

If President Obama and his supporters think they will win against the right-wing by becoming just like them and employing their deceptive "swiftboat" strategy of character assassination -- then they have already lost. Yes, Obama supporters may well see their candidate re-elected, but they might just have to cut out their progressive souls and any sense of fair play to get him there.