A Swift Switcheroo

You have to admit the people running Bush’s show are pretty damn clever. They found a brilliant a way to turn the Swift Boat Vets for Tyranny hullabaloo on its head and use the issue against not just Kerry, but the entire Democratic Party.

Responding to Kerry’s challenge to renounce the Swift Boat ads, Bush shifted the focus completely, suggesting that political advertising from ALL so-called “527s” is “bad for the system.”

So instead of being forced to acknowledge and condemn the lies spewing forth from the Swift Boat ads, he quickly turned the tables with amazing efficiency.

In one swift move (pun intended, sorry), Bush was able to:

• Spin the media into announcing that he had condemned the Swift Boat ads. (He did not.)
• Appear to be “acting decisively” to “clean up” the campaign funding system, and
• Demonize Democratic and Progressive 527s like MoveOn and America Coming Together.

With all due respect to Monty Python, I must say I’m impressed with their ruthless efficiency. But hey, as the S.F. Chronicle’s Jon Carroll pointed out, Karl Rove didn’t become so powerful by losing elections. I just hope someone in Kerry’s camp figures out a way to beat him. And if you believe the current poll numbers, it ain’t happening right now.