Commentary by TrueDialog.org's Founder, Carl Lindemann

September 18 - Collins' Home: a Poodle on the Porch, an Attack Dog Out Back

It appears that Senator Susan Collins has decided that it is OK for her paid staffers to conduct a smear campaign at arms-length from her "official" sanitized stance. This is a bad policy that embraces the downhill race typified by Karl Rove's "Swiftboat" strategy. 

Lance Dutson, a "Citizen Journalist" and Web site designer received $25,000+ in June from the Collins campaign. In the Bangor Daily News on August 27, a news story about the Collins/Allen campaign's online strategy stated that "Dutson is working at revamping the Collins Web site, and he will blog — writing regularly online — for and about Collins."

Now that the Collins campaign's official site is up (is that all you get for $25k?), some things not mentioned in that news report become clear. Dutson's writing "for and about Collins" will not, it seems, be published on the campaign's official site. The negative messaging will be passed off as "independent" blogging on Dutson's so-called "Maine Web Report" and in the "As Maine Goes" conservative site instead. This smear campaign is strictly a cut-and-paste from outside Maine, rebranded by Dutson/Collins. 

What's especially ironic is that the target of the Collins/Dutson guilt-by-association attack is Moveon.org. Whatever its views, this is a group with legit roots in Maine that reach back before it became a national force - and target. So you have a national attack passed off as local against a national group that has authentic, local ties.

Collins cannot pretend Dutson's negative campaigning is carried out without her approval. It is not credible to claim that  her minion's polarizing public comments, at odds with her "moderate" image, could continue without her consent.  This negative campaigning is carried out on her behalf, with her approval and by an individual she is funding. It is contrary to the public image she wishes to present, but will likely continue as long as it is not tied to her in the media. 

***

What is Authenticity?

The Wages of Spin   Project Spin Shop

Ideas & Essays   Spin Shops, State by State

All materials on this website are copyright © 2007 by TrueDialog.org. All rights reserved.