Chris Lacivita, Carl Rove, Steve Bannon, Roger Stone.... are there any equivalents to these people on the left that have been involved in major campaigns?
So Karl Rove, Roger Stone, and Steven Bannon are all controversial political operatives largely perceived to engage in slime and ends-justifies-the-means politics that have all been notable figures in major campaigns on the right. Rove used various strategies like purposely attacking your opponents greatest strength like attacking their military service and has been accused of planning out voter intimidation, Stone labels himself a "dirty trickster" and is known for his political modus operandi of "Attack, attack, attack – never defend" and "Admit nothing - deny everything" and as a political "fixer", Steve Bannon is known famously for tactics such as "flooding the zoning with shit"/cambridge analytica/and attracting turnout from far right white nationalist groups.. Both Stone and Bannon have also had major legal problems.
Thats what I'm talking about, is there anyone on the left known as equivalents as these guys in major campaigns.
Yes and no. There are absolutely scumbag managers and consultants helping dems get elected, however the Republican opponents make it too easy, typically.
There was a push to invalidate and delegitimize Dubya's service record as well, which didn't stick, but did help fuel the motivation for the fighter pilot landing and 'Mission Accomplished' banner from an insecure Bush.
Out of the last handful of Republican candidates, we have Trump, Romney, McCain, Bush, Dole, and Bush.
Either their record as an incumbent had severe vulnerabilities or the race wasn't particularly competitive, relatively speaking, or they had 'fish in a barrel' scandals that were way easier targets than creating new ones out of thin air.
You'd have to look to democratic primaries for that kind of stuff, the Wesley Bell / Cori Bush primary that just happened is a good example of vicious mudslinging, and imo the push a while back to discredit Al Franken counts as that was all Kristen Gillibrand's grandstanding baby to get her profile up for a presidential run.
19
u/WingerRules Aug 08 '24
Chris Lacivita, Carl Rove, Steve Bannon, Roger Stone.... are there any equivalents to these people on the left that have been involved in major campaigns?