Edwards continues the counterpunching.

[Julien Sorel]

Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards called on Saturday for President Bush to condemn the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ad campaign.

...

Edwards, a senator from North Carolina, said President Bush could end the dispute if he were to say, "Stop these ads."

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/08/21/edwards.swiftboat/index.html

So if Bush refuses to stop the ads, he's willing to benefit by their slime, which reinforces the notion that he has been involved with them from the start. If he gets them to pull the ads, it will also associate him with them -- he can control them, after all, and why didn't he do something earlier? If he doesn't, then maybe he's just too weak, and can't control his minions. Everything hinges on the public's perception of the ads. As soon as the public decides the ads are below the belt, they become a huge liability for Bush, and he will need to do something about them.

And this, folks, is an example of the oft-maligned "political judo." The only question at this point is if the public decides the ads go too far, and if they do, just how much they are going to be disgusted by them. There are no guarantees in this game, just some fairly educated, smart people making calculated decisions.


On edit, notice the overall tone towards the ads in this article is negative. The Chicago Tribune, the NY Times -- the media are coming to a conclusion here. Too late, but they are doing it.

[BillZBubb]

1. Political "judo" is much overrated.

The public knew the "Willie Horton" ad went too far too. But, the message it wanted to convey stuck like glue to Dukakis.

Voters forget who slung the mud, but some of the mud always sticks to the target. It's virtually impossible to get it all off.

When the other guy is playing smash mouth, you'd better forget about finesse, or you'll be out of the game.

[Julien Sorel]

3. As always, we disagree.

The public knew the "Willie Horton" ad went too far too. But, the message it wanted to convey stuck like glue to Dukakis.

Then the public didn't really know the ad went too far, did it? Because they were willing to allow any outrage they felt at the ad be outweighed by the ad's message.

When the other guy is playing smash mouth, you'd better forget about finesse, or you'll be out of the game.

This is a rather interesting football analogy, and underscores the whole problem with your approach. If smashmouth football always worked, there wouldn't be any other kind played.
The San Francisco 49ers of the 80s and 90s were a finesse team that dominated. If brawling boxers always won, there wouldn't be any technicians. Ali. Larry Holmes. Evander Holyfield. And so on, and so on, and so on. You have to be able to do both as the occasion demands. Saying "when the other guy is playing smashmouth, you'd better do it too" allows the other guy to dictate the terms of the game. The simple fact here is that the Kerry campaign has done a very nice job of mixing finesse (patience, restraint, monitoring public reaction, gathering facts, priming allies) with power (public statements, counter ads, the sly little disavowal of the move-on ads) -- "political judo." The tough guy analogies sure sound cool, and it's always nice to portray someone else as a wimp (makes you feel good about yourself, plus it scores points) but smart usually beats tough, as long as smart is, as the Kerry folks are wont to say, "tough enough."

[mourningdove92]

2. An exerpt from the article

"Both the Bush and Kerry campaigns have filed complaints with the Federal Election Commission alleging that the other side is illegally working with so-called 527 groups to produce ads. (Kerry files FEC complaint against swift boat group)"


When did Bush file a complaint with the FEC, and for WHAT?


Ahem, please note that this is my 700th post. WooHoo. I'm in the 700 club.

:smoke:

[Julien Sorel]

4. Pass The Loot.

They did it in March. Interestingly, the media made a big deal out of Kerry's filing, while Bush's went unnoticed. Kind of makes Kerry look weak the way the media handled it, like he was running for help.