Wednesday, December 29, 2004

GOP Political Tactics

Here's a light, almost "heartwarming" holiday story about GOP dirty politics at work written cheerfully for the Washington Post right before the New Year. I post this to remind people what we're up against. Among other things GOP consultants repeatedly use GOD as a component in all their strategies and develop simple catchy slogans that stick in your head to define their opponents.

I'll let you draw your own conclusions for moving forward in '06 and '08.

IFK Editor


Posted on Wed, Dec. 29, 2004
GOP campaigner moves to Charleston
By Mike Allen
The Washington Post

There was a school of costumed dolphins - Flipper, Flopper and Flapper - that traveled the Great Lakes region mocking Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. There was a "Kerry on Iraq" DVD showing clips of his evolving statements, framed like dates on a calendar. And there were KerryWrongFor Catholics.com, KerryWrong ForMormons.com and Kerry WrongForEvangelicals.com.

All were part of the Republican National Committee's year-long effort to use nontraditional media to undermine Kerry's presidential campaign - sometimes viciously, sometimes humorously.

Jim Dyke, the party's outgoing communications director, helped engineer the fusillade by figuring out what to do with all the votes, quotes and other ammunition turned up by his squad of 20 or so researchers.

Officials at the party, who took some of the sharper shots that the Bush-Cheney campaign did not want to fire directly, felt they had an embarrassment of riches. Dyke said part of the puzzle was saving some of the good stuff for later.

"You don't want to put all the dog food in the bowl at one time," he said.

Political operatives typically leave Washington when they have lost, but Dyke is headed for South Carolina next month despite the victory that has many Republicans sticking around to figure out how they can cash in or move up.

The 35-year-old Arkansas native is starting Jim Dyke and Associates (the associates will come later, he hopes) in Charleston, and he intends to remain a capital player through conference calls and BlackBerry messaging.

Dyke, known as "Bear," is seeking a familiar mix of work in public relations, marketing and public affairs.

But his plans show how veterans of President Bush's machine keep promoting his agenda even after they are off the payroll.

To push Bush's proposal to add private accounts to Social Security, Dyke is making one of his first projects the creation of a group called Save My Investment, aimed at 25- to 45-year-olds.

"That demographic, which has paid in a significant amount of money, has a vested interest in changing the system and is a likely constituency to vote on this issue," Dyke said. "This will put a face on people who would benefit from owning part of their retirement."

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