Josh Marshall's bitchslap theory of politics

I've been saying this since the Swiftboating - the parallels with the Weimar electoral history I was researching at the time were just too great. But I hadn't heard JM's term for it... it's perfect. Money quote:

One way -- perhaps the best way -- to demonstrate someone's lack of toughness or strength is to attack them and show they are either unwilling or unable to defend themselves -- thus the rough slang I used above. And that I think is a big part of what is happening here. Someone who can't or won't defend themselves certainly isn't someone you can depend upon to defend you.

Demonstrating Kerry's unwillingness to defend himself (if Bush can do that) is a far more tangible sign of what he's made of than wartime experiences of thirty years ago.

As I've said for a long time, it's not (just) about knocking down his Vietnam heroism. It's about demonstrating his current weakness by his refusal to hit back. And to an ignorant American public longing for a Great Leader authoritarian daddy figure, they don't care if someone is intelligent or even right on the issues, as long as he'll act like a prick on America's behalf they're happy. Never mind that, as we've seen recently, this may not be the most effective strategy.