Non Party Politics

Dishing the Dirt, Politics as Usual

As the political nominating process continues, the usual and time-honored tradition of mud-slinging has begun in earnest. If you thought there was nastiness and sly innuendo going on in the preceding debates and primary campaigns, just get ready. We are now moving into the advanced stage of nastiness.

Normally, the booing Hillary Clinton got from Barack Obama supporters during the last televised debate would be worth mentioning, as would her charges of plagiarism against Obama. But all of that pales in comparison to the Big Guns of political smears being leveled at the GOP frontrunner, John McCain. Yes, the big “S” word has been dragged out of the closet, once again. SEX! The biggest NO! NO! a candidate can be accused of.

While very few of us expect ANY of the candidates to be virginal, accusations of impropriety have stopped more than one candidate who was on a big roll. Ask Gary Hart, or Ted Kennedy, or Bill Clinton. Well, actually only Gary Hart got stopped, so apparently it doesn’t always work, even when the accusations are discovered to have merit.

Now, John McCain, the maverick Straight Talk Express Republican has been accused of having an affair during his previous campaign in 2000. Even worse, this alleged affair was with a LOBBYIST! This idea is repugnant on several levels, including the possibility of political favors being exchanged and the great disparity in the ages of the accused.

Who would make such an accusation? What motives could possibly be behind this “leak”? Could ulterior motives be lurking? Ya’ think?

The New York Times gathered all the information/innuendo from “undisclosed sources”. Turns out, those sources got disclosed as disgruntled former staffers. The Times piece was so unsubstantiated that it appears the NY Times now has “egg in the face”, instead of McCain. In fact, McCain may very well benefit from these spurious accusations. Seems like former Republican McCain dissenters, like Rush Limbaugh, are now leaping to his defense.

Mud-slinging, wild accusations and sly “leaks” have always been around on the political scene. These are just a few of the reasons that it’s often referred to as “dirty politics”. But these old cliches do have their place. The Times just rediscovered that when you get in a mud fight, you wind up covered with mud. The NY Times may just have jeopardized any credibility for reporting future election issues. Too bad! So sad!

3 Responses to “Dishing the Dirt, Politics as Usual”

1. Julie MacKenzie Says:
   

   Great article, I had a feeling this would happen. I am personally glad NY Times got egg in their face/

   Thanks

2. Clara Says:
   

   McCain’s name will be linked with this forever. In 50 or 100 years you will do a search on his name and this will pop up. How fair is that?

3. Darlene Norris Says:
   

   The NY Times lost any credibility it had a long time ago. This is just the latest in a long string of sorry attempts to throw mud on Republicans. If it keeps blowing back on them, maybe the Times will take the hint and go away.

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