"Cheney was the one who attacked Murtha first."
Yep. That is Cheney's job. By sniping back, Murtha allows the press to forget that. And they forgot it. Cheney handed Murtha the stick, and Murtha whacked himself with it.
It ain't fair. It ain't right. But it is the way the game is played. Ignoring the rules can pay off big, but that time isn't quite yet for the Democrats. Oh, Murtha's comment wasn't fatal, as it would have been 6 months ago. And his apology helps the situation, instead of making it worse. That, in and of itself is a welcome change. Ask yourself why they called off the attacks. The reason is they weren't working. Despite the spin, this administration is constantly doing polls. And they shape their message according to the polls. Attacking Murtha wasn't working, so they dropped it. They will continue with the side-shots because those foaming at the mouth attack dogs don't poll well outside of the hard core anyway. And the side-shots plays well to the looney tunes crowd.
Politics is a dirty game. Exactly how dirty is dependent on the election and the candidate. Let us take the 2004 election as an example. My favorite candidate was Wesley Clark. He had an unchallengeable service record, unless you viewed the Bosnia affair as an affront. He presented himself well on CNN during the runup to the war. He had decent charisma. I didn't care for Kerry much. While he seemed to be a good guy, he had things in his past that could be used against him. Like his activities after he returned from 'Nam. Yeah, I know, I sympathized with the guy, but there was a lot of ammunition that he was handing out to opponents. Ok, Clark waffled too long. In most elections, that wouldn't have made a difference, but 2004 was different. So Clark lost out. Kerry became the candidate. But he decided to be a Boy Scout when running against a candidate who had been a cheerleader. Well, anyone who knows anything about Wanda Holloway knows that cheerleaders and their supporters know no limits. So he got Swift Boated and flip-flopped. Was it fair? No it wasn't. Should he have known? Yes he should have. Did he respond? No he didn't. Did he lose? By less of a margin that would have been expected. He gave the election away. Do I blame him? Yes I do. He could have won. But he didn't really understand the dynamic he was playing with. Clark might have. |
