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Current Events » in reply to And the Democrat's Smear campaign of John McCain has begun.

Can't judge without more info
Robert — (archived)

Harsh criticism of McCain for his political positions and actions as a Senator don't constitute a smear campaign. I'd define a smear campaign as something that contains both significant falsehood and is tangential to the issues--i.e., his religious beliefs, his sexual orientation, taste in food, personal appearance, etc. I'd also view as a smear falsely attacking his service record, as was done to Kerry, despite the tenuous claim of relevance to modern war and military issues.

What constitues a smear in modern politics can often be a judgment call. The smear against Obama was so far over the top that even Republican partisans recognize it as a smear, and so in this case no fine judgment is necessary.

Just about everything ends up on YouTube these days. How about tracking down the commercial you saw?

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