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Why conservatives can't whitewater Obama - The Week
Twenty years ago, conservative media mavens seemed able to turn any minor flap into scandal gold, be it a decade-old land deal that lost money or a mundane replacement of White House travel office staff. They even pressured Bill Clinton, early in his first term, to accept an investigation led by an independent special prosecutor, which years later led to his own impeachment. Liberals, in disturbed awe of the Right's ability to control the media narrative, dubbed the conservative media the "Republican Noise Machine."
Yet today, no matter how loud conservatives scream "Benghazi," "Solyndra," "Fast and Furious" and even "Intim-O-Gate" (Glenn Beck's failed attempt to brand the IRS and leak investigation controversies), President Obama glides past. His poll numbers remain relatively stable.
1. Liberals finally learned how to fight back
When the 1988 George H. W. Bush presidential campaign derided Gov. Michael Dukakis with smear after smear, the Democrat fatally believed he could simply ignore it because "nobody's going to believe it." In the 1990s, Bill Clinton naively believed naming a special prosecutor would put to rest any doubts about his real estate dealings. In 2004, Sen. John Kerry thought he could wait a few weeks before responding to the "Swift Boat" attacks on his war record and avoid inadvertently spreading false smears.
But in 2008, the Obama campaign aggressively fought off smears
2. Conservatives have cried wolf too many times
Conservative firebrand Michelle Malkin futilely tried to tag Obama as fostering a "culture of corruption" in a book published merely six months into his presidency. Breathless charges of cronyism in the Solyndra matter proved to be baseless. You will not be surprised to learn that "Fast and Furious" was not a deliberate plot by Obama to ship guns to Mexican drug cartels, maximize cross-border gun violence, and con the public into accepting draconian gun control. These are a mere few examples of smears gone bust in the Obama era.
3. When something does go wrong, Obama is quick to take care of business
Martha Johnson, resigned. Robert Peck, fired. David Chaney, resigned. Greg Stokes, indefinitely suspended without pay. Louis Caldera, resigned.
Don't know who those people are? That's because President Obama got rid of them fast enough to prevent their minor scandals from being exploited by Republicans and becoming extended media soap operas.
Twenty years ago, conservative media mavens seemed able to turn any minor flap into scandal gold, be it a decade-old land deal that lost money or a mundane replacement of White House travel office staff. They even pressured Bill Clinton, early in his first term, to accept an investigation led by an independent special prosecutor, which years later led to his own impeachment. Liberals, in disturbed awe of the Right's ability to control the media narrative, dubbed the conservative media the "Republican Noise Machine."
Yet today, no matter how loud conservatives scream "Benghazi," "Solyndra," "Fast and Furious" and even "Intim-O-Gate" (Glenn Beck's failed attempt to brand the IRS and leak investigation controversies), President Obama glides past. His poll numbers remain relatively stable.
1. Liberals finally learned how to fight back
When the 1988 George H. W. Bush presidential campaign derided Gov. Michael Dukakis with smear after smear, the Democrat fatally believed he could simply ignore it because "nobody's going to believe it." In the 1990s, Bill Clinton naively believed naming a special prosecutor would put to rest any doubts about his real estate dealings. In 2004, Sen. John Kerry thought he could wait a few weeks before responding to the "Swift Boat" attacks on his war record and avoid inadvertently spreading false smears.
But in 2008, the Obama campaign aggressively fought off smears
2. Conservatives have cried wolf too many times
Conservative firebrand Michelle Malkin futilely tried to tag Obama as fostering a "culture of corruption" in a book published merely six months into his presidency. Breathless charges of cronyism in the Solyndra matter proved to be baseless. You will not be surprised to learn that "Fast and Furious" was not a deliberate plot by Obama to ship guns to Mexican drug cartels, maximize cross-border gun violence, and con the public into accepting draconian gun control. These are a mere few examples of smears gone bust in the Obama era.
3. When something does go wrong, Obama is quick to take care of business
Martha Johnson, resigned. Robert Peck, fired. David Chaney, resigned. Greg Stokes, indefinitely suspended without pay. Louis Caldera, resigned.
Don't know who those people are? That's because President Obama got rid of them fast enough to prevent their minor scandals from being exploited by Republicans and becoming extended media soap operas.