As I wrote yesterday, no one in their right mind believes a Senate Majority Leader, in the heat of a tight reelection campaign, would unilaterally launch a McCarthyist smear against his president’s opponent. At the very least, I have to believe a wink was given by Team Obama prior to Operation A Guy Told Me. The sinister plan was just too risky.
Well, actually, it isn’t risky at all when you have almost all of the media helping you to execute it in three ways:
1. Pumping the story so The Narrative remains Romney’s taxes and off Obama’s failed economy and Romney’s message.
2. Keeping the fire trained on Harry Reid as opposed to allowing it to blow back where it belongs: on the Obama campaign benefitting by the smear.
3. Keeping the Romney campaign on defense for going on six days now as they are repeatedly forced to proclaim Romney is not beating his wife.
But with a single Tweet this morning, Stephanie Cutter, a senior advisor to the Obama campaign, joined in on, volunteered for, and locked arms with Reid’s smear:
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This should come as no surprise. After all, this is the same Stephanie Cutter who used the word “felon” to describe Romney in a conference call with reporters just a few weeks ago.
Moreover, today on CNN, Cutter admitted to being one of Reid’s fellow McCarthyists when she confessed she has absolutely zero proof for her charges:
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What Reid and the Obama campaign are doing, though, is working — because the media is playing their part perfectly in allowing this narrative to do exactly what Reid and the Obama campaign intended it to do.
What will the media do now, now that the Obama campaign is OPENLY participating in this smear?
My guess is nothing.
The media can cry foul over Reid’s tactics all they want, but until the media makes Obama pay a political price for this, it’s all a hustle.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC