Why was David Sirota kneecapping our nominee on the eve of the election?

[LongtimeAZDem]

5. Because he's a r*******r, and that's what he has done for a long time. From 1998:

Sanders press aide fired from campaign over fake Web site
By WILSON RING Associated Press MONTPELIER, Vt.

An aide to Vermont's independent Rep. Bernard Sanders was fired earlier this year from the campaign of a Philadelphia mayoral candidate amid controversy over a fake Web site.

The Web site included quotations by an opponent about how black and Latino voters ought to consolidate power, the Washington political newspaper The Hill reported Wednesday.

David Sirota and the campaign manager worker were fired after the bogus Web site was discovered. Sanders' chief of staff, Jeff Weaver, said Wednesday that Sirota assured him that while he lost his job over the episode, he did not set up the Web site. "My understanding is he was not involved in this and was not aware of the Web site until the political opponent raised questions about it," Weaver said. "Based on what I know about this, it's unfortunately guilt by association." Weaver said such conduct would not be tolerated in a Sanders campaign or the congressional office. "This is not the type of tactic that would be acceptable in politics in Vermont," Weaver said. "It is unfortunate that in many places in the country these types of tactics are resorted to."

Sirota has worked for Sanders for four months as a press spokesman. Sanders' traditional political opponents in Vermont were wary Wednesday of attaching too much significance to the story. Sanders' 1996 Republican challenger Susan Sweetser, whose campaign went into free fall after it was revealed she hired a private detective to do opposition research on Sanders, said the incident should be left in the past.

"I know people do dumb things," Sweetser said. "If he did something dumb at least that's what it appears you don't want it to brand him for life." Vermont Republican Party Executive Director James Dwinell also did not want to make a big issue of the report. "I do respect Sanders' encouraging people to get involved in the (political) process," Dwinell said. "This is the sort of thing that, if it's true, turns people off to the process."

Last winter Sirota was working for Philadelphia mayoral candidate Dwight Evans. Reporters covering the primary campaign received unsolicited e-mails directing them to a Web site claiming to represent Democratic opponent John White Jr. Quotations on the Web site, attributed to White, were taken from a Spanish-language newspaper. The page displayed in large letters the quotation, "The black and the brown, if we unite, we're going to control this city."