That's their trick. They floated the Swift boat thing in May, IIRC. Got the base in a tizzy but barely made a dent in the major media. Among the True Believers, it was indisputable fact. When the topic comes up at work, church, soccer practice, and the Rotary Club, the base is there to faithfully recite the gospel with an absolute certainty only those who live outside the reality-based community can muster.
For the Dems, they breathed a sigh of relief at the time. Whew. That's over. Nothing came of it. Just the saliva spray of the base going after a hunk of red meat.
But it wasn't over. In August, they sunk the post-convention high with the _real_ attack ads. Did it right quick. August, no money for television ads. August, the Beltway crowd vacations. August, when everyone thought they could catch some downtime before thing got into full swing after Labor Day.
Sucker punched. The psychological warfare and the time are effin' brill.
then, WHAMMO! KAPOW! WHACK! SMACK! KABLOOEY! Right when the Kerry campaign thinks they've won, when they think they've managed to sweep the mess under the carpet, these asschomps unleash another round of attack ads coupled with the Sinclair deal. Which kinda puts that whole thing into more perspective and explains that tenacity with which Sinclair stuck to its guns.
Kerry's sunk. glub. glub. glub. buloop.
Kelley
"We live under the Confederacy. We're a podunk bunch of swaggering pious hicks."
--Bruce Sterling