They got to Elliot the same way they get to everyone they can, using dirty tricks. Read this article from April, it sums it up better than I could.
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The Republican personal attack machine - By Todd Haskins, April 22, 2004
It was only a matter of time before John F. Kerry would fall victim to a Republican smear campaign intended to destroy his character and any past accomplishments. Finally, even as the Senator released his military records, some Republicans are claiming that he didn't deserve his purple hearts in Vietnam. This is only the beginning of an upcoming barrage of lies orchestrated to tear apart Kerry's character. But the Senator from Massachusetts isn't the first victim. There have been others - even moderate Republicans.
Spotting a wounded Republican is very easy - or so I have found. When their legitimacy in discussing real issues deteriorates, they resort to desperate measures that require personal attacks on their opponents. And over the years, they have grown quite effective at it. Already, more than six months before the presidential election, I have spotted a wounded elephant. His name is George W. Bush. The President's inability to promote his 4-year record on jobs, deficit spending, education, health care and the environment are forcing him to seek alternative methods of jump-starting his campaign. He has been in this situation before. And Bush's crafty political advisors are hard at work trying to personally smear John F. Kerry's past and present with the first of many rounds of truth-twisting deception. To be honest, it is kind of fun to watch, just for the suspense of guessing what tactics the Bush Campaign will pull out of their sleeve. But for John F. Kerry and the past victims of the Republican attack machine, they might as well be having nightmares just thinking about it.
First, let me zoom out a bit and take a journey back in time to the prosperous 1990's. Bill Clinton's presidency brought economic security to millions of middle class Americans, and encouraged a new wave of technologies - which today we sometimes take for granted, such as the internet. As the inherited deficit turned slowly but surely into a surplus, the Republicans were running into trouble. They were short on finding ways to attack the 42nd President. They attacked him on anything they could find. And there wasn't much. There was the Whitewater controversy, which was quickly debunked, as a key witness that donated regularly to the Republican National Committee and the Heritage Foundation admitted spending money to smear President Clinton. There was also the Monica Lewinsky scandal, which displayed a unique Republican partisan voice that believed having an affair was a high crime, therefore impeachable. But Clinton was barely able to escape that controversy because the nation was getting sick and tired of it, and cared about the real issues facing this country. Generally speaking, the Republicans were novices in smearing Democrats during the Clinton Administration. They had to wait until 2000 to actually perfect it.
However in 2000, no Democrat was smeared. In fact, the Republicans smeared one of their own. During the 2000 Republican primaries, George W. Bush and John McCain were locked in a close battle. After losing decisively in New Hampshire, the Bush team was very worried. They were facing a war veteran in John McCain that was better prepared and more experienced than their guy. With the South Carolina primary looming, the Bush Campaign had to think of something. Understanding that South Carolina could be a turning point in the campaign, they decided to run a 'push poll' in the state. A push poll is a form of pushing your point across to your voters by putting it in the form of a poll. That was exactly what the Bush Campaign did.
According to Al Franken's book, The Lies and the Lying Liars who Tell them, this was how Bush's push-poll went.
"Caller: Hi. I am calling from an independent polling company and I was wondering if I could have a minute of your time to conduct a survey.
"Unsuspecting Voter: Uh...sure
"Caller: Great! If you knew that Senator John McCain was a cheat and a liar and a fraud, and that he has fathered an illegitimate black child, would you be more like to vote for him or less likely to vote for him?
"Unsuspecting Voter: Hmm. Probably less."
Bush engaged in this type of push polling and negative advertising right before the South Carolina Primary. Unfortunately for McCain, he had to explain to everyone he had not fathered an illegitimate black child. The truth was that McCain had the heart to adopt a girl named Bridget from Bangladesh. Thanks to Bush's Campaign tactics, perfected by advisor Karl Rove a close friend by the name of Lee Atwater, Bridget was McCain's downfall in South Carolina.
But that was not the only stunt Bush polled in South Carolina. Other rumors arose, saying that McCain was gay; that he was pro-abortion; that his wife had arrest warrants for giving alcohol to minors; that while Senator of Arizona he had voted for the largest tax increase ever; and a whole long list of others. All of those were obviously false. The tactic worked to perfection as Bush won the South Carolina primary, which had a crippling impact on McCain's chances for the Republican nomination. If it had not been for the fraudulent attacks in South Carolina, there might as well be a different president in the White House today.
With the smear tactic perfected, the Bush Administration was ready to try it out during the 2002 midterm elections. Obviously there was a lot at stake that November as both political parties were trying to grab a majority in Congress. Bush's senior advisor Karl Rove saw the Georgia Senate race as an opportunity. The incumbent Democrat Max Cleland was running against a very competitive Republican challenger by the name of Saxby Chambliss. Every political insider predicted that it would be a close election. And until the very last week, Cleland was ahead in the polls, almost comfortably. Karl Rove and the Republican National Committee helped fund advertisements that showed Cleland's face next to Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden because they claimed he voted against a defense bill. It suggested that Cleland was unpatriotic because he wasn't supporting our troops.
Many people forget who Max Cleland really is. Out of all the legislative leaders throughout our country, it is easy to say that John McCain and Max Cleland were most impacted by their service in the Vietnam War. McCain was a prisoner of war for years. Cleland lost both legs in combat. Both of these honorable men deserve our gratitude. It is ironic that both suffered a similar fate when facing a conservative Republican opponent. Except Cleland was attacked for being unpatriotic. But what should Cleland have given to his country, besides both of his legs, to finally convince Republicans that he was patriotic? It is amazing to me how fearless they are in going after distinguished war veterans. Cleland ended up losing that election, falling victim to the more-perfected right-wing attack machine.
We now sit here in the same predicament. Just recently, John F. Kerry was attacked for doing what he is most proud of - serving his country. Some Republicans claim there is doubt to whether or not he deserved his metals in Vietnam, proving once again that they are desperately deflecting attention away from the issues. On April 21st, John F. Kerry released his military records on his web site. I invite both his doubters and supporters to pay his site a visit at Johnkerry.com.
You will see, as I did, that Kerry was well-respected and did his service. Kerry "frequently exhibited a high sense of imagination and judgment in planning operations against the enemy in the Mekong Delta," a 1969 evaluation said. It went on to add, Kerry "exhibited all of the traits desired of an officer in a combat environment." He received three purple hearts, and both silver and bronze stars as well. He deserves recognition, not criticism.
Interestingly enough, these allegations come from the campaign of an incumbent whose military records are in question. But is Kerry's campaign talking about how Bush may have been AWOL in 1972? Of course not. There are real issues facing this country that the Democratic Party cares about. Jobs, education and health care are all more important than whether or not someone received a purple heart. How about the deficit? It is growing by the second, as the Bush Administration continues to be in denial about the long-term impact it will have on our economy. Most Americans also care about what will happen with our Iraq policy? Will it stay the same? Or will we find an alternative method of getting the world involved in the rebuilding process?
It is these issues that ought to define an election year. However as we have learned from the past, Republicans love to dodge issues they are unable to defend. What better way to dodge them than attacking your opponent's character? Lets just hope Americans can see through all of the dirty campaigning this November.
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