Swiftboating

The term swiftboating "comes from a 2004 television ad that undermined [John] Kerry's status as a decorated Vietnam War hero, making less stark the contrast between him and George Bush, a self-proclaimed 'wartime leader' who'd never heard a shot fired in anger," William Triplet wrote in Variety, February 5, 2006.

"If you can construct believable stories with enough truth in them to smear somebody royally, boy, is there a pot of gold waiting for you in D.C.," Triplet said. "Spin doctors are nothing new in politics, but a certain type -- equal parts scriptwriter, opposition researcher and ruthless street fighter -- is increasingly in demand, and for good reason.

"Just ask John Kerry, the former Democratic presidential candidate who became the target object of a new verb: swift-boating," Triplet wrote.

Also see swiftboating in the Wikipedia.

Related SourceWatch Resources

• Bush administration smear campaigns
• Cindy Sheehan
• Coalition for a Fair Judiciary
• Hillary Rodham Clinton
• John F. Kerry
• John P. Murtha
• Rumsfeld and the Generals
• Swift Boat Veterans for Truth
• Swiftboating John Murtha
• Swiftboating Joseph Wilson
• The Donatelli Group

External Links

Video

• Swiftboating, YouTube.com.

2005

• Jamison Forester, "Swiftboating Hillary," Media Matters for America (AlterNet), April 21, 2005.
• "Swift Boat Moms in Winnebagos, or the Astroturfing of Cindy Sheenhan," Skiing Uphill Blog (reprinted on Hart Williams Blog), August 30, 2005.
• Jim Gilliam, "Swiftboating the Wal-Mart Movie," The Huffington Post, November 29, 2005.

2006

• "Tracks of Her Tears: The Swift Boaters and Sam Alito," Attytood, January 12, 2006.
• "Swiftboating of Murtha," Crooks and Liars, January 14, 2006.
• Joe Gandelman, "The 'Swiftboating' To Discredit John Murtha Seemingly Begins," The Moderate Voice, January 16, 2006.
• William Triplet, "'Swift-boat' pros in demand in D.C. Spinmeisters go negative," Variety, February 5, 2006.
• Dave Johnson, "Swiftboating King's Funeral - Here It Comes!" Seeing the Forest, February 7, 2006.
• Alex Urevick-Acklesberg, "Let The Swiftboating Begin!" Blue Force Blog, April 6, 2006.
• R. Emmett Tyrell, "Swiftboating as hate term," Washington Times, June 2, 2006.
• "Tyrrell: Swiftboating has become a hate term," CNN, June 4, 2006.
• Ron Brynaert, "New 'Murtha Lied' Website posts 'hateful' emails after liberal blogs start digging," The Raw Story, June 26, 2006.
• Dave Johnson, "The Swiftboaters Are Back in the Water," The Patriot Project, July 17, 2006; Seeing the Forest; The Huffington Post.
• Michael Curtis, Letter to the Editor: "Who started it?" McCook Daily Gazette, September 11, 2006.
• Taylor Marsh, "Swiftboating: A New Low in Dirty Politics. John Kerry, John Murtha and Markos Moulitsas Zuniga have all been targeted by Republican-funded smear campaigns. As the fall election cycle revs up, who will be swiftboated next?" AlterNet, September 12, 2006.