GOP Bitch-Slap theory

Regarding the "swift boat vets for 'truth'" slime attacks, Josh Marshall hits the nail on the head with his description of the effect of the GOP bitch-slap tactics: "...Hitting someone and not having them hit back hurts the morale of that person's supporters, buoys the confidence of your own backers (particularly if many tend toward an authoritarian mindset) and tends to make the person who's receiving the hits into an object of contempt (even if also possibly also one of sympathy) in the eyes of the uncommitted.

This is certainly what Bush's father did to Michael Dukakis and, sadly, it is what Bush himself did, to a great degree, to Al Gore...."

But if you click on the link, you'll see that Kerry ain't gonna let them make it three outta three. He's hitting back, and hitting back in just the right way -- at Junior and his silent complicity in vile falsehoods:

...Of course, the President keeps telling people he would never question my service to our country. Instead, he watches as a Republican-funded attack group does just that. Well, if he wants to have a debate about our service in Vietnam, here is my answer: “Bring it on.”