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   Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Friday, 02-Aug-2024 11:30:29 JST Evan Prodromou

   Republican political strategist Karl Rove famously said to "attack the strength" of an electoral rival.

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     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Friday, 02-Aug-2024 11:35:58 JST Evan Prodromou

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     The most famous example of this from the 2004 presidential campaign. Democrat John Kerry, a decorated Vietnam war veteran, was attacked with a barrage of TV ads by a shady group called "Swiftboat Captains for Truth", who questioned, without evidence, Kerry's three medals -- two bronze stars and one silver star. His opponent, George W. Bush, served in the Texas Air Force Reserve, largely believed to be a dodge to avoid service in the war.

     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swift_Vets_and_POWs_for_Truth?wprov=sfla1

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     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Friday, 02-Aug-2024 11:38:53 JST Evan Prodromou

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     Donald Trump is no Karl Rove. But I think his insinuation at the National Association of Black Journalists conference that Kamala Harris is not really Black was a similar attempt. Her heritage is a strength, and he wants to start a Big Lie to undermine that strength.

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     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Friday, 02-Aug-2024 11:41:30 JST Evan Prodromou

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     I think it's a challenge for the Harris campaign. Getting caught in a debate about what exactly it means to be Black, and how well her own genetic and cultural heritage match that definition, would be a real quagmire. I hope she puts it away as well as she has handled other attacks.

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     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Friday, 02-Aug-2024 11:45:08 JST Evan Prodromou

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     I think the attacks on Hunter Biden, by the way, were a similar attack. Joe Biden's defining experience was raising his two sons alone after his wife and daughter died in a car crash. Attacking him for loving and caring for his son not only wrong footed him for its cruelty, but also attacked his strength.

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     Tim Chambers (tchambers@indieweb.social)'s status on Friday, 02-Aug-2024 11:46:36 JST Tim Chambers

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     @evan Think this one will fall flat. Unlike Kerry being "Swiftboating" where that history in some ways was unknown, folks have seen Kamala for years and the idea that she was not identifying as black before just won't sell except to the Trump base, and he already has them.

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     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Saturday, 03-Aug-2024 00:29:09 JST Evan Prodromou

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     • Diligence Jones

     @DeliaChristina I think there's also a psychological blow to the opponent when you attack them on a strength. John McCain never expected that anyone would question his heroic leadership of POWs in the Hanoi Hilton. Joe Biden couldn't imagine someone attacking his family which has experienced so much tragedy. Telling a Black woman who has had to be twice as good as everyone else around her just to get noticed that she's not Black enough is such a punch in the gut.

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     Diligence Jones (deliachristina@sfba.social)'s status on Saturday, 03-Aug-2024 00:29:10 JST Diligence Jones

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     @evan
     i really believe that was the real start of what we see now. it didn't matter if their accusations were founded in truth (they weren't); it just mattered that the media and other influential platforms/people amplified it so that it became a sort of Truth.

     they were everywhere. they adapted quickly to the new media landscape and the growing opportunity of social media.

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     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Saturday, 03-Aug-2024 00:31:31 JST Evan Prodromou

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     • Diligence Jones

     @DeliaChristina and you're damned if you do, damned if you don't.

     If the candidate responds to the attack, it elevates the topic to public discussion.

     If they don't respond, it concedes the topic to the attacker, who can frame it however they want.

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     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Saturday, 03-Aug-2024 00:37:52 JST Evan Prodromou

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     • Diligence Jones

     @DeliaChristina I think when Barack Obama was attacked over his relationship with Reverend Jeremiah White, it was a similar attack.

     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremiah_Wright_controversy?wprov=sfla1

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     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Saturday, 03-Aug-2024 00:39:56 JST Evan Prodromou

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     • Diligence Jones

     @DeliaChristina Obama squared the circle with the More Perfect Union speech. But it's one of the best and most important speeches in American history. Not everyone can do that.

     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_More_Perfect_Union_%28speech%29?wprov=sfla1

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     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Saturday, 03-Aug-2024 05:12:41 JST Evan Prodromou

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     • Diligence Jones

     @DeliaChristina 🙌

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     Diligence Jones (deliachristina@sfba.social)'s status on Saturday, 03-Aug-2024 05:12:42 JST Diligence Jones

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     @evan
     However -- it's an attack Kamala (and other Black folks) is used to.

     We literally get this every day, no matter what level of accomplishment we reach. Even me -- and I'm not a veep.

     These kinds of attacks are, on one hand, exhausting but not diverting.

     Because our paths are strewn with the bodies of folks who underestimated us.

     That's one reason why the crowd of Black journalists laughed at Trump. He can try it but errrrrryone can see his weirdass racist bullshit. And it's nothing new.