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The Obama campaign has started a new Web site called Fight the Smears, to, well, fight the various smears that have been circulating about him via email. The site is basic — a list of smears with explanations of why they’re lies and a way you can email the information to your friends. It sounds like a simple idea — that’s why I think it just might work — but it’s also rather novel. Other campaigns, John Kerry’s among them, had the idea that responding to attacks legitimized them. While in some circumstances responding can backfire, I think in this case the Obama campaign has the right idea — they’re not running ads denouncing these claims, they’re providing a source targeted at people Googling these stories or trying to convince others of their inaccuracy.
–Sam Boyd
