"The Obama campaign isn't going to let dishonest smears spread across the internet unanswered," explained campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor. "Whenever challenged with these lies we will aggressively push back with the truth and help our supporters debunk the false rumors floating around the internet."
The "Fight the Smears" website a good idea, because Democrats often face unfair smear attacks from conservative media. Eventually, all of those attacks end up on Fox News and, from there, pretty much everywhere else in our national media. It is good to fight back against these attacks. Otherwise, as we saw in 2004, they can end up costing Democrats the election. Even when elections are not at stake, these attacks can silence progressive voices in the media, and severely reduce the number of nationally effective voices for Democrats and Republicans.
I would only ask this of the Obama campaign: if you want us to fight the smears, please, for the love of God, do the same thing yourself.
When a supporter is attacked unfairly by the Republican Noise Machine, defend that supporter rather than condemning him or her.
Give your support to the people who are attacked unfairly. Don't give your support to the unfair attacks and the people making those unfair attacks.
In this case, Obama has sided with the unfair attacks against General Clark, and the people making those unfair attacks.
If the Obama campaign really wants to stop right-wing attacks, then it needs to stop supporting them.
And if the campaign wants people to help it fight the right-wing smears, then it should stop condemning people when they face those attacks themselves.
To be perfectly honest, it is very hard to work for someone if you know they won't defend you if you were to face an unfair attack. If, for some reason, something I said became a focus of right-wing media tomorrow, it is obvious that I would be publicly chastised by the Obama campaign no matter what I actually said. And then, I would be expected to get right back to the business of helping Obama get elected.
Beyond the personal, if Obama really wants to get away from politics as usual, then please, please, please stop the long line of prominent Democrats who have given credence to right-wing smears over the last twenty years. Stop validating these smears that prevent people from feeling free to speak their mind. Stop the smears that restrict the expression of progressive viewpoints in the media. Don't expect the smears to stop if you are validating them yourself.
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