Clearly, Rove ops like the one described here (
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/10/22/21730/538) depend entirely on poor communication to be effective-- they have to pass unseen, in the shadows of disparate locations. A telephone line here, a call-in show there. It's all incredibly local and it
needs to be invisible to work.
Like vampires, the light of day kills this stuff & converts it instantly into an advantage for our side.
How many people know about the black baby myth pinned to McCain? Or the push polls in Iowa saying "Did you know Howard Dean has a Jewish wife?" In a national election if ordinary people learned that this sort of vicious shit is a GOPer trick, the backfire would be huge & vast, seems to me.
He's not in Texas any more.
IOW,the net is the perfect antidote to Rovery. Because of the way it collapses time and space. Something anywhere can be made known everywhere in the blink of an eye. And exposed--and published-- broadly, nationally. a push poll in CO, a jammed phone line in NH, can resonate.
Different from the response to sinclair, but similar in kind. This place, this blogosphere of ours is capable of driving a stake through that bastard's cold dry heart.
What if we set up a clearing house? Put our virtual heads together to strategize in advance to shut this stuff down.
The net is making history right now. We've already changed campaign finance. I've read here that the blogosphere's reactions to Sinclair & rapid ability to organize, research & respond are already being studied in major MBA progs.
Also, we know that mainstream media and hte campaigns keep an eye on dK & other sites and fish these waters for material. Among many possible examples, Krugman quotes Steve Gilliard today.
So,let's put our heads, skills, time and techniques together and come up with an antidote for Rove. Is this reasonable? Smart? A good use of our energy? How to go about it? Or, should we just respond spontaneously, if and when? Would it distract from GOTV ops?
Suggestions please