NYT: Democrats campaigning from the gutter

Saying that Democrats are campaigning from the gutter gives gutters a bad name. They are campaigning from below the sewers with the C.H.U.D.s. They aren't campaigning on ramming ObamaCare down our throats by bypassing normal legislative procedures. They are not campaigning on the stimulus boondoggle. Or the auto bailouts. Or cap and trade that was passed in the House. Nope. They aren't even admitting in their campaign ads that they are Democrats! Instead, they are digging up dirt and slinging mud. Not even the old gray lady can turn a blind eye on this one. From the New York Times via the Star Tribune: Democrats' strategy: Start slinging 

Democratic candidates across the country are opening a fierce offensive of negative advertisements against Republicans, using lawsuits, tax filings, reports from the Better Business Bureau and even divorce proceedings to try to discredit their opponents and save their congressional majority.

Opposition research and attack advertising are deployed in almost every election...

...many Democrats are deploying the fruits of a yearlong investigation into the business and personal histories of Republican candidates in an effort to plant doubts about them and avoid having races become a national referendum on the performance of President Obama and his party.

...Negative ads can be successful, whether or not they are fair and fully accurate, particularly if they lure an opponent into responding or if they define a political newcomer before he can define himself. But they also carry risks, especially in a year when voters are frustrated about the economy and impatient with politics as usual.

(Steve McMahon, a Democratic consultant) added: "Anytime you get personal in campaign advertising, there's always a risk that it goes too far to be credible or it backfires altogether... It's called winning ugly. But a lot of time it backfires, because people in their communities know them."

November is going to be one heck of a backfire indeed. The NYT listed a few example cases. One not mentioned is the smear ads coming from the camp of our own Gary Peters (D-MI 9th):

Gutter politics. No mention of 1) Peter's party affiliation, 2) his yea ObamaCare vote, 3) his yea stimulus vote, 4) his yea bailout vote, 5) his yea cap-and-trade vote, 6) his voting with Pelosi 95% of the time and I could go on and on. Anyone reading this with just a couple of bucks in the bank take note  - every time you see a smear ad like this, go online and donate $5 to Rocky's campaign to unseat Gary Peters for such tactics:

UPDATE: More from the NYT via memeorandum: Democrats Unleash Ads Focusing on Rivals' Pasts. And that's going to change the minds of voters ticked off about the economy... how???

http://theblogprof.blogspot.com/2010/09/nyt-democrats-campaigning-from-gutter.html

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