Friday, May 14, 2004
Cloak-and-dagger world of opposition research
Joshua Green: This year's presidential campaign is already shaping up to be even more negative than the last. That's no accident. Our correspondent looks at the cloak-and-dagger world of opposition research—the updated version of "dirty tricks."
The elite purveyors of "personal destruction"—whom Clinton both feared and employed—have become the leading lights in the low-lit world of opposition research.
Maligning an opponent, even with his own words and deeds, is a tricky business; voters take a dim view of "negative" politics, and are liable to punish the campaign carrying out the attacks rather than the intended target.
To avoid backlash, campaigns have become much more careful about attacking their opponents. Shrewd politicians can exploit this anger and still engage in hardball tactics.
Digging the Dirt(a BBC documentary)provides a rare glimpse of how political operatives have learned to use the media to get around this problem, by creating a journalistic black market for damaging stories.
The 'operatives' have a sophisticated understanding of the media and have the ability to manipulate the reporting of political news.
A decade ago opposition research was largely the domain of college kids. Today it is a profession run by seasoned investigators.
Republicans are particularly adept combatants. Moreover, in John Kerry they have the advantage of an opponent who is largely undefined in the public's thinking.
Democrats may not have been successful using research against Bush, but they have fared much better deploying it against each other.
One prominent Democrat has already fallen victim this year— Howard Dean...the attack was orchestrated within his own party.
By the time Gore endorsed him, on December 9, Dean's victory in the upcoming primaries seemed assured.
That same week Ben Holzer... arrived with Chris Lehane in Washington, D.C., for a series of visits to the major television networks, newspapers, and newsmagazines.
They toted a three-ring binder that contributed as much as anything else to Dean's rapid demise.
The Clark campaign had classified the stories in it as singles, doubles, triples, or home runs, based on the damage they were expected to inflict.
The Front-Runner’s Fall - The Dean implosion
To make a very long story short...Ben Holzer and Christ Lehane are oppersition researchers for Sen John Kerry.
Opposition research will be the key, and hidden, factor in this year's campaign.
Joshua Green: This year's presidential campaign is already shaping up to be even more negative than the last. That's no accident. Our correspondent looks at the cloak-and-dagger world of opposition research—the updated version of "dirty tricks."
The elite purveyors of "personal destruction"—whom Clinton both feared and employed—have become the leading lights in the low-lit world of opposition research.
Maligning an opponent, even with his own words and deeds, is a tricky business; voters take a dim view of "negative" politics, and are liable to punish the campaign carrying out the attacks rather than the intended target.
To avoid backlash, campaigns have become much more careful about attacking their opponents. Shrewd politicians can exploit this anger and still engage in hardball tactics.
Digging the Dirt(a BBC documentary)provides a rare glimpse of how political operatives have learned to use the media to get around this problem, by creating a journalistic black market for damaging stories.
The 'operatives' have a sophisticated understanding of the media and have the ability to manipulate the reporting of political news.
A decade ago opposition research was largely the domain of college kids. Today it is a profession run by seasoned investigators.
Republicans are particularly adept combatants. Moreover, in John Kerry they have the advantage of an opponent who is largely undefined in the public's thinking.
Democrats may not have been successful using research against Bush, but they have fared much better deploying it against each other.
One prominent Democrat has already fallen victim this year— Howard Dean...the attack was orchestrated within his own party.
By the time Gore endorsed him, on December 9, Dean's victory in the upcoming primaries seemed assured.
That same week Ben Holzer... arrived with Chris Lehane in Washington, D.C., for a series of visits to the major television networks, newspapers, and newsmagazines.
They toted a three-ring binder that contributed as much as anything else to Dean's rapid demise.
The Clark campaign had classified the stories in it as singles, doubles, triples, or home runs, based on the damage they were expected to inflict.
The Front-Runner’s Fall - The Dean implosion
To make a very long story short...Ben Holzer and Christ Lehane are oppersition researchers for Sen John Kerry.
Opposition research will be the key, and hidden, factor in this year's campaign.
