Republican dirty tricks and smears: An ignoble history

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Saturday September 18, 2004 · 5:47 PM PDT

2004/09/18 · 17:47

In the beginning there was Nixon. He begat people like Chuck Colson, who in turn begat the likes of Lee Atwater and Karl Rove. Starting in 1968, and for most presidential campaigns since, the Republicans have engaged in a string of dirty tricks and smears. To understand what's happening in this campaign, it is necessary to see what they've done before. The pattern is clear. The myopic media can't, or refuses to, see it. Some of the highlights:

1968: Supposedly acting independently, Nixon supporters in the "China lobby" encourage South Vietnam to drag its feet in peace talks with the promise of getting a better deal from Nixon.

1972: The Watergate break-in and related buggings. Ficticious letters such as the "Canuck letter" smearing various Democratic candidates. An effort to plant McGovern literature at the residence of George Wallace's assailant.

1980: The October surprise. People affiliated with the Reagan campaign encourage Iran not to release the hostages prior to the election with the promise of unfreezing Iranian assets. Carter debate briefing book ends up in the hands of the Reagan campaign.

1988: Willie Horton ads. Rumors are spread that there was something wrong with Dukakis' mental state and that Kitty Dukakis once burned an American flag.

2000: Bush debate material is sent to Gore's campaign in an effort to make it appear as if Gore is spying on Bush. Bush's cousin calls race for Bush on Faux, leading other networks to follow suit, prematurely. Thousands of Florida voters are wiped from the voting rolls by Bush's brother's administration.

2004: A group financially bankrolled by Bush money men run ads smearing the military record of Kerry. An apparently inauthentic version of Bush's national guard documents is used to sandbag CBS in an effort to both distract attention from the substance of the story and make it appear as if the Kerry campaign is engaged in dirty tricks.

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Republican dirty tricks and smears: An ignoble history

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