Not only was it GWB (or his minions) that smeared McCain, but it was McCain who crawled back into the fold by totally capitulating on the torture legislation. An issue where he has personal experience. But don't forget - McCain is a "straight talker".

...no doubt the reason that the persons responsible for the smear are left out is so that later it can be blamed on liberals and democrats.

I was not responsible for smearing John McCain in 2000.

in the same way that rumors about Obama supposedly being a Muslim "are out there."

Peggy Noonan was on board yesterday on MTP, only she did place some blame for the smear -- on the VOTERS of SC!

"MS. NOONAN: I'm not sure what you mean. In terms of his general approach in South Carolina to the folks down there? I think he was running this time as a grand old man of the party, a man you know, a man who backed Ronald Reagan, a man who has spoken for, in a way, Republican conservatism for a quarter century now. I think to some degree, to tell you the truth, he understood, and South Carolina itself understood, that they kind of owed him one, you know? They allowed him to be smeared, they'd given him a bad time in the year 2000, they decked him then, they knocked him out of the race. This time they picked him up and put him back in. So he was a different fellow, but it's a different age and he had different guys to be running against."

The same people poised to do much more of the same starting in September. The 1990's were just a dress rehearsal, As the cliche goes, you ain't seen nuttin yet.

They're also mum on the topic of how the smear was propagated, what gave it 'legs'. Funny eh?

...to the very carefully annotated documentation of each statement coming from the Clinton and Obama camps in the past month. Include the fine details presented by the press in the Nevada caucus lawsuit as well. Gosh, the source, and suggested motivation, of each action is duly noted in this case.

No double standard here. Nothing to see, move along, that's a good press.

DAMN you're good.

One of the reasons the perpetrators of the so-called "smear campaign" aren't being identified is that no one has actually proved Rove and Bush were behind it. They probably were, but unlike in blogs, "probably" isn't good enough for a responsible news outlet to make an explicit accusation.

Huckabee and his smear crew are this year's version of Rove/Bush in 2000. Scarier for his tact of coming out and saying he really is disgusted by the push-poll and the other horrible things that have come out, yet having both hands squarely on the wheel of that bus.

And now we have the a reincarnation of the Bush smear campaign, "FreedomWatch.org," gearing up to attack the likes of moveon.

I can't wait 'till it's over, if it ever ends!

cliff

They're all yellowbellies, at least most of them, except, of course, when it comes to beating up on a woman.

"probably" isn't good enough for a responsible news outlet to make an explicit accusation.

He's kidding, right?

As Ususal Right On Target. One reason that I am not for McCain - aside from the fact that he Republican - is that he seems at home with the inconsitancy of being a Bush Support and Bush Detractor. While those two things are not necessarily in opposition, they are in conflict. Rather mush tells the story on how he can continue to support a "war" that

has no redeeming qualities.

Bush, the "war" both supported by McCAin, neither has any redeeming qualities.

The problem is that we are not really given much choice.

So, Glenn, continue to go get them. Gald that while we sleep you are standing on the wall.

... we'll assume the smear campaign was orchestrated by Al Gore... who was smeared far worse than McCain, and by the press itself.

Once again, Glenn, all I can say is THANK YOU!

Chuck Norris is using the "age" card against McCain and Larry Elder is bringing it up also. Its kind of fun to see the Republicans devour each other, especially when no one is standing in the wings to succeed. Lets see who else chimes in before the end of the day.

"For such a significant yet ugly and terrible event in our political history, there seems to be extremely little interest -- none actually -- in identifying the culprits."

That's way too close to holding someone accountable. Serious Respectable Journalists don't do that sort of thing anymore. They leave the lights off. Or didn't you get the memo?

One of the reasons the perpetrators of the so-called "smear campaign" aren't being identified is that no one has actually proved Rove and Bush were behind it. They probably were, but unlike in blogs, "probably" isn't good enough for a responsible news outlet to make an explicit accusation.

John McCain, interviewed by one of America's few real journalists, Amy Goodman:

http://www.democracynow.org/2004/9/3/amy_goodman_questions_john_mccain_on

AMY GOODMAN: Do you think this is similar to the attacks on you in 2000, the Bush attacks in 2000?

JOHN MCCAIN: No, I put the attacks behind me. The attacks that were made on me are long ago and far away, and I don’t ever think about them or dwell on them.

AMY GOODMAN: They were very personal, very harsh, and they questioned your war record.

JOHN MCCAIN: And I had to get over it. And I got over it, and I don’t look back in anger. I look back as running for president as the greatest experience of my life.

AMY GOODMAN: It's one thing to get over it. It’s another to stand with and campaign with the man who did it to you, George Bush.

JOHN MCCAIN: I put it behind me. I put it behind me. Absolutely, we have a very good, friendly relationship.

AMY GOODMAN: Has he ever explained himself to you, why he attacked your wife, Cindy, and your kid?

JOHN MCCAIN: I can only -- my discussions with the president are private. Okay? Thanks, good.

Ann Banks, The Nation

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080128/banks

Eight years ago this month, John McCain took the New Hampshire primary and was favored to win in South Carolina. Had he succeeded, he would likely have thwarted the presidential aspirations of George W. Bush and become the Republican nominee. But Bush strategist Karl Rove came to the rescue with a vicious smear tactic.

Rove invented a uniquely injurious fiction for his operatives to circulate via a phony poll. Voters were asked, "Would you be more or less likely to vote for John McCain...if you knew he had fathered an illegitimate black child?" This was no random slur. McCain was at the time campaigning with his dark-skinned daughter, Bridget, adopted from Bangladesh.

The New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/19/us/politics/19mccain.html?_r=1&sq=john%20mccain%20black%20baby&scp=1&pagewanted=all

The McCain team had trouble nailing down the origin of the dirt.

“One time in Hilton Head, we chased these punks down the block who were handing them out,” said State Representative James H. Merrill, the Republican state majority leader, “and when we got to them and asked them where they got them, they said some guy in a red pickup truck said, ‘Hey do you wanna make $100?’”

Clearly, there's no evidence it had anything to do with Bush.