What you're conveniently ignoring is that these weren't random wackos. These were proxy groups clearly doing the bidding of Karl Rove, so that Bush could have plausible deniability. It's been a tactic Rove has used for 25 years.

The John McCain illegitimate black daughter push-poll is exhibit A. Bob Jones University was one of the pushers of this story, and apparently Ralph Reed also mobilized some troops to spread it as well.

http://www.boston.com/...of_a_smear_campaign/

You're obviously trying to minimize all this bad behavior in hindsight, by associating it with "a few bad apples", but that is flat out disingenuous. These were well-organized campaigns of lies which had the effect of moving the polls by a ton of points. If you want to hide behind plausible deniability, feel free, but common sense and Occam's Razor, not to mention the evidence, dictate otherwise. I mean, I doubt you truly believe that SBVT was an "independent" advocacy group driven to get out the "truth". Gimme a break.

As for whispers about McCain's mental health, as I've said before Art, I think you see what you want to see. If you wanted to find out about it, all you had to do was google, but apparently see no evil, hear no evil.

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200411/green/3

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"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security" - Benjamin Franklin
"Don't you see the rest of the country looks upon New York like we're left-wing, communist, Jewish, homosexual pornographers? I think of us that way sometimes and I live here." - Alvy Singer, "Annie Hall"

I don't dispute you can find garbage if you dig enough. The idea that these dirty tricks were significant or decisive is just a joke though. McCain lost because he proactively alienated supporters like me. I never heard about any of this garbage except through the whining process. It just isn't significant and cuts both ways. It isn't like Bush hasn't had his fair share of outlandish attacks.

There was a whisper campaign started by Hilary Clinton, among others, that G.H.W. Bush was sleeping with one of his campaign aides--that they insisted on adjoining hotel rooms ion order to have liaisons. To smear an honorable family man in such a way was despicable and it was done solely to take the heat off of Bill Clinton's philandering.

There was also a whisper campaign about Bob Dole's wounds being incurred under less than heroic circumstances.

There were ads implying George W. Bush approved of the pickup truck dragging death of a black man in Texas.

Get down off your high horse about Rove and take a look at some of the stuff Begala and Carville have done. It's politics and the Democrats certainly don't have clean hands.

You could also cite the entire Kitty Kelley book, featured for three straight days on Good Morning America, which alleged cocaine use among other things with not a single source other than the standard anonymous variety.

This stuff is all chump change.

For full disclosure purposes, I'll admit that it was my girlfriend that prompted this question. She was the first Georgian that I heard recently make really harsh (hateful) comments regarding Cleland. It just struck me as kind of odd that she would feel that way, and then I heard it from a few other Georgians.

So yeah, I haven't heard anything in the news about him. This was totally prompted by hearing negative comments and wondering how those feelings came about. Everything I knew of the guy was that he was decent, and had served in Vietnam and was a triple amputee as a result.