Campaign 2008: Dizzying New Lows

by A.B. Stoddard - 09/12/08 2:39 PM ET

Wow, you know it is bad when Bill O’Reilly, Mike Huckabee and other Republicans agree that Barack Obama wasn’t calling Sarah Palin a pig. And looking back on it, if that phrase wasn’t common — or, more precisely, the most overused phrase ever on the floors of the U.S. House and Senate — couldn’t we have left it to those reactive, voluble and passionate supporters and staffers of Hillary Clinton to have called John McCain out when he used the very phrase in a sentence with her last year?

McCain knows, and everyone on his staff knows, that this new ploy is truly brazen.

Remember when the McCain campaign released the “celebrity” ads in late July, comparing Obama to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton? Seemed shocking at the time, but at least there weren’t any factual errors. Now, nearly two months later, Steve Schmidt has taken the tactics to new heights — and McCain’s candidacy to new lows.

The Associated Press, FactCheck.org and Politifact — all neutral — have weighed in on the McCain campaign’s willingness to smear, and Team McCain stands guilty as charged. “If anyone’s doing any smearing, it’s the McCain campaign and its outrageous attempt to distort the facts. Did Obama call Palin a pig? No, and saying so is Pants On Fire wrong,” was the breathless conclusion from Politifact.

But the truth doesn’t matter when you need to change the subject. Obama may not have enough time to get this campaign back, and he may lose. But the McCain campaign is likely to keep up the sickening tactics because THEY WORK. Every day people talk about character attacks is another day McCain isn’t associated with President Bush and the Republican record.

No matter how many people say the McCain campaign is lying, I bet voters are seeing more lipstick than pig.

ARE INDEPENDENTS TURNED OFF BY THE FALSE CLAIMS OF THE MCCAIN CAMPAIGN, OR DO THEY EVEN NOTICE? Ask A.B. returns Monday, Sept. 15. Please join my weekly video Q & A by sending your questions and comments to askab@digital-staging.thehill.com. Thank you.