Lawsuit-loving, anti-Semitic eccentric behind false rumors
New York Times Oct 13, 08 8:37 AM CDT
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The pernicious rumors that Barack Obama is secretly a Muslim can be traced to one man, the New York Times reports: Andy Martin, a failed lawyer and politician known for his anti-Semitic comments and frivolous lawsuits. In 2004 Martin released a press release calling Obama a Muslim, and he has since been quoted heavily by most proponents of the theory. “Everybody uses my research as a takeoff point,” he says.
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OPINION
They're trying to turn Obama into Willie Horton, Dowd writes
New York Times Oct 8, 08 11:15 AM CDT
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Before Karl Rove, Maureen Dowd reminds us, it was Lee Atwater who masterminded the Republican smear campaign, and his demolition of Michael Dukakis was his greatest, dirtiest success. Atwater painted the 1988 candidate as a weak Harvard-educated elitist with a weird last name, a man who supported "the Scary Black Man" and was not on "the American side." Watching John McCain's ugly campaign, the New York Times columnist asks simply, "Sound familiar?"
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ANALYSIS
Knife-fight tactics are out of place in crisis, strategists say
New York Times Oct 7, 08 6:21 AM CDT
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Barack Obama and John McCain continue to sharpen their verbal barrage on each other ahead of tonight's debate , with Sarah Palin even going so far yesterday as to denounce Obama as "not one of us." But in economic upheaval, both candidates risk sounding off-message or even irrelevant, writes Adam Nagourney in the New York Times .
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OPINION
For once, 'superficialities' won't win this election
Guardian (UK) Oct 6, 08 9:41 AM CDT
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Despite the accepted wisdom that “superficialities” win American elections, “substance is in this year,” writes Michael Tomasky in the Guardian . Just look at the public response to the debates and the financial crisis: Without zingers or folksy winks, Barack Obama and Joe Biden won the debates in “literally every poll I've seen,” Tomasky notes. And Obama’s policy-driven response to Wall Street turmoil gave him a surge in the polls.
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Callers link candidate to Hamas, imply he is a Muslim in calls
Guardian (UK) Oct 3, 08 12:15 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The ugly tactic of “push polling” has resurfaced in key swing states, as fake pollsters seek to influence voters with scam questions that present an unfavorable view of Barack Obama, the Guardian reports. On one call, a Jewish voter in Pennsylvania says, she was asked if she would vote for Obama if she knew he was supported by the militant organization Hamas. "It is scare tactics," she said. "It is terribly underhand."
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OPINION
Senator has run a dirty campaign
Time Sep 18, 08 12:59 PM CDT
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Politicians often stretch the truth, but John McCain has taken things to a new level, writes Joe Klein in Time. Journalists usually play softball when criticizing candidates’ falsehoods, but now even the restrained New York Times editorial board is calling McCain a liar. McCain’s campaign has been a “ceaseless assault” on Obama, Klein writes, characterized by “a consistent—and witting—disdain for the truth.”
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GOP distracting from issues with 'Swift Boat politics,' Dem charges
Washington Post Sep 10, 08 3:08 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Barack Obama fired back today at a McCain campaign ad claiming he smeared Sarah Palin, calling the tactic "phony outrage and Swift Boat politics," the Washington Post reports. Obama used the phrase "lipstick on a pig" to describe John McCain's policies during a campaign stop yesterday, which the McCain camp criticized as a sexist reference to Palin.
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Tucker Eskew, part of party's 'darker side,' attacked Mac in 2000
ABC News Sep 2, 08 7:00 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Republican strategist Tucker Eskew, who helped smear John McCain in the 2000 primaries, is now on board the GOP candidate’s campaign and will prep Sarah Palin for her role, reports Jake Tapper on ABC News. “He's one of the best and most collaborative talents in Republican politics,” a McCain rep tells Politico. McCain’s 2000 team was less appreciative.
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Launches site to refute Corsi book, urges prompt rebuttal
Boston Globe Aug 14, 08 11:43 AM CDT
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Jerome Corsi is back, and this time John Kerry wants to confront him head on. Kerry has launched a website to refute the attacks in Corsi’s new book, Obama Nation , which aims to dismantle Obama's reputation the same way 2004’s Unfit for Command helped destroy Kerry’s. “We know the game, we've learned some things,” Kerry writes in an email to supporters. “You’ve got to play offense."
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Negative turn generates anger toward candidate
Time Aug 1, 08 5:53 PM CDT
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A new Obama campaign memo obtained by Time documents Republican disapproval of the McCain camp’s recent tactics. Some highlights: Pat Buchanan on the commercial juxtaposing Obama, Britney Spears, and Paris Hilton: "Look, this is not an effective ad.” Ed Rollins: “John needs to be the deliberate, experienced veteran and not the grumpy old man.”
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analysis
His staff had two ads ready after Europe trip
Carpetbagger Report Blog Jul 31, 08 6:25 PM CDT
(Newser)
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It's common knowledge by now that a John McCain campaign ad took Barack Obama to task for not visiting wounded US troops in Germany. But David Kiley in BusinessWeek reports that the McCain camp had another ad ready, this one if Obama had visited the troops. It would have charged that Obama was using the soldiers as campaign props.
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ANALYSIS
But Mac insists that his rival skipped over media coverage
Washington Post Jul 30, 08 1:34 PM CDT
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John McCain is standing by his accusation that Barack Obama skipped a military hospital trip in Germany because he couldn't bring the press—even though the facts don't support it, the Washington Post reports. Firsthand accounts agree that Obama never intended to take reporters to the hospital. McCain's charge, running in an attack ad, is "absolutely, unequivocally wrong," an Obama spokesman said.
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'Guilt by endorsement' ad runs on South Florida websites
Huffington Post Jul 24, 08 2:12 PM CDT
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The McCain campaign is running an Internet ad composed of photos of Barack Obama and Fidel Castro side by side, with the caption “Fidel Castro thinks he is 'the most advanced candidate,'" the Huffington Post reports. The ad is running on websites catering to South Florida, home to many Cuban expatriates and deep anti-Castro sentiment.
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