Reply #216: It's not hypocritical because it's not the same [View All]

[NewYorkerfromMass]

The Swift Boat ads were out and out fabrications, and it was Kerry's responsiblity to counter them, just as it was up to Dean to respond to these ads. Every candidate has to be ready to respond to the worst possible attacks, because they know they are coming.

But the false premise here is that these ads were what lead to Dean's demise. I look and see references to the Saddam capture above, and then there are the clear differences Kerry was able to make with Dean regarding the tax cuts. The campaign dynamic tends to bring out each candidate's character, and that is what happened in Iowa. Iowans had plenty of time to look at them all, and in the big picture these ads were a very, very small part of the campaign.