Swift Boating - who has the keys to the boat ?

“Swift Boating” has become a part of the political lexicon. Incredibly (predictably), the definition has been reversed. We could take this as proof that there is no political consultant alive today who hasn’t read George Orwell’s 1984, but we would also have to also assume that no voter alive today has.

Today, Swift Boating is defined as an untruthful, sinister, conspiratorial attack on anything a politician has said or done . This is a really handy way to defect uncomfortable scrutiny. It will be used daily during this election cycle.

Thus, it’s worth a moment to understand the origin of the term and the cure.

Presidential candidate John Kerry wanted some of the political capital earned by a war hero in the aftermath of 911. He made extensive use of his purple hearts from the Viet Nam war.  A group of his contemporaries challenged his story.

WITHOUT REGARD to which side was right, Kerry had the keys to the boat. With a single signature he could have released his military medical records and ended the argument. How it would have turned out doesn’t matter to the point I’m about to make.

My point is this: We (the voters), are about to go through hours of needless talk about the 2008 versions of Swift Boating, again, needlessly. These iterations will obscure the real issues that real voters need to consider. Plus it will be just plain ugly and turn off the lion’s share of voters from the process. This can and should be avoided.

While I can’t claim to know who and / or what will make up all of these arguments, I can promise you that one of them will be Sen. H. Clinton’s years of White House experience. She has the keys to that boat. With a single signature she can release the records from the Clinton Library.

My opinion extends, equally, to any candidate, of any party, who trades on their record while keeping it locked up.

 

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