Suma, it's one thing to launch a whisper campaign from the shadows. It's another for hundreds of men to stand up, give their names and resumes, and make a charge. If the men check out, the charge can't simply be dismissed as a smear.
The usual smear pattern is one big donor getting one or two guys (for money, one presumes) to crawl out from under a rock and make charges with unverifiable evidence. These swift vets now have thousands of donors (of course, most are Republican, so what? in this season of 527s and $16 million from George Soros alone, the Dems are in no position to complain), are reputable vets themselves, there's no evidence of a payoff, and the charges would be verifiable if Kerry released his records.
This doesn't fit the pattern of a smear campaign. If the Kerry campaign responds with ad hominems and generalities, but no data, then I as a member of the jury of public opinion, may draw an inference from that. |
