Swiftboating Explained

The term swiftboating (also swift-boating or swift boating) is a pejorative American neologism used to describe an unfair or untrue political attack. The term is derived from Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (SBVT), the organization responsible for a widely publicized—and later discredited—political smear campaign[1] [2] [3] [4] against 2004 U.S. presidential candidate John Kerry.[5] [6] [7] Since the 2004 election, the term has been commonly applied to a political attack that is dishonest, personal, and unfair.[8] [9]

Origin

The term "Swift Boat" itself refers to a class of United States Navy vessel used during the Vietnam War. During the 2004 presidential campaign, John Kerry's heroism under fire as a Swift Boat commander in Vietnam was a centerpiece of his campaign.[10] A number of Vietnam veterans who had served on Swift Boats formed a 527 organization called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth with the intent of discrediting his military record and attacking his subsequent antiwar activities as a member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War.[8] The group produced a series of television ads and a bestselling book, Unfit for Command.[11] The unsubstantiated charges against Kerry by the SBVT gave rise to the term "swiftboating" as a synonym for "the nastiest of campaign smears",[12] "a slimy political attack",[13] and, for many, "ugly, unprincipled slander".[14] [15] [16] [17] [18] As the purpose of a tax-exempt 527 organization is "to focus on the issues" rather than "attack or defend a specific candidate", the SBVT was fined by the Federal Election Commission in 2004 for specifically attacking Kerry instead of focusing on political issues. The Swift Boat Veterans and media pundits objected to this use of the term to define a smear campaign.[19]

Later use

Charges of "swiftboating" were made by supporters of both major candidates in the 2012 presidential election. Republican Party strategists compared attacks by the Obama campaign on Mitt Romney's tenure at Bain Capital to swiftboating: "It's very clear they are trying to re-create and take a page out for the 2004 Bush campaign."[20] The term was also used by a representative of Barack Obama's re-election campaign to describe the documentary film Dishonorable Disclosures and an associated ad campaign released by the Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund on the topic of the death of Osama bin Laden.[21]

During the 2016 presidential race, feminist Gloria Steinem accused Donald Trump of swiftboating his rival Hillary Clinton, calling her "Crooked Hillary", despite his record of much more frequent and severe lying.[22]

Hillary Clinton compared Republicans' statements about Christine Blasey Ford during the Kavanaugh confirmation process to the "swift-boating of John Kerry".[23]

The New York Times reported in 2008 that many Swift Boat veterans, "especially those who had nothing to do with the group that attacked Senator John Kerry's military record in the 2004 election—want their good name back, and the good names of the men not lucky enough to come home alive", expressed regret and dismay that the term "swift boat" has come to represent a political attack and "political chicanery" against a member of a different party.[12]

During the 2024 United States presidential election, Republican attacks on the military record of Minnesota governor Tim Walz were widely characterized as "swiftboating" in the media.[24] [25] [26] [27] [28]

Conservative reactions

The use of this term as a pejorative has resulted in objections from some conservatives regarding the implied criticism of the tactic.[29]

In 2006, conservative commentator Emmett Tyrrell denounced its repeated negative usage, saying it "is about to join such terms as McCarthyism and McCarthyite" as a "hate term".[30] In a 2006 interview, John O'Neill, spokesman for Swift Vets and POWs for Truth, called the term's usage a "baseless smear against somebody's personal character".[31]

Fox News Radio host John Gibson published the 2009 book How the Left Swiftboated America, where he defines swiftboating as "the political trick of claiming to expose truth while in fact lying".[32]

Republican Newt Gingrich, putting his own twist on the neologism at a presidential campaign stop on January 1, 2012, said he felt he was being "Romney-boated" by the barrage of negative ads run against him.[33] [34]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Encyclopedia of Politics, the Media, and Popular Culture. Brian. Cogan. Tony. Kelso. ABC-CLIO. 2009. 37, 155, 187, 335. 978-0-313-34379-7. the group's major claims were eventually uncovered as misleading ... The Swift Boat smear campaign is often identified as being one of the significant factors that contributed to the defeat of Kerry by incumbent George W. Bush in the 2004 presidential election.
  2. Book: Until the last man comes home: POWs, MIAs, and the unending Vietnam War. limited. Michael Joe. Allen. Univ of North Carolina Press. 2009. 294–299. 978-0-8078-3261-5.
  3. Book: The making of modern America: the nation from 1945 to the present. limited. Gary. Donaldson. Rowman & Littlefield. 2009. 333. 978-0-7425-4820-6.
  4. Book: Lapdogs: How the Press Lay Down for the Bush White House. Eric. Boehlert. Simon & Schuster. 2006. 198. 0-7432-9916-7 .
  5. Web site: University of Pennsylvania National Annenberg Election Survey. PollingReport.com. March 30, 2007 . conducted August 9–16, 2004.
  6. No redemption song: The Case of Bill Ayers. Casey. Leo. Spring 2009. Dissent. University of Pennsylvania Press. 56. 2. 107–111. 0012-3846. 10.1353/dss.0.0041. 143605641. In recent elections, the patriotism and good names of Democratic war hero candidates, from John Kerry to Max Cleland, had been impugned so successfully that a neologism for such smears—to 'swift boat'—was coined out of the assault on Kerry..
  7. News: The Vets Attack . Evan . Thomas . . November 14, 2004 . February 6, 2013 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20080610022244/http://www.newsweek.com/id/55728/output/print . June 10, 2008 .
  8. Book: The Promise and Performance of American Democracy. limited. Jon. Bond. Kevin. Smith. Cengage Learning. 2011. 206. 978-0-495-91374-0.
  9. To Swift-Boat or Not . . Michael . Kinsley . June 12, 2008 . 9 August 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240809150204/https://time.com/archive/6685134/to-swift-boat-or-not/ . 9 August 2024 . live.
  10. News: Swift Boat Accounts Incomplete. Michael Dobbs. August 22, 2004. The Washington Post.
  11. Book: O'Neill, John. Corsi. Unfit for Command. August 15, 2004. Regnery Publishing. Washington, DC. 0-89526-017-4.
  12. News: Veterans Long to Reclaim the Name 'Swift Boat'. The New York Times. Kate. Zernike. June 30, 2008. March 27, 2010.
  13. News: McCain Supporter Defends Swift Boat Attacks. The Wall Street Journal. Laura. Meckler. June 30, 2008. February 24, 2012.
  14. Book: "War stories": false atrocity tales, swift boaters, and winter soldiers--what really happened in Vietnam . Gary . Kulik . Potomac Books, Inc. . 2009 . 105 . 978-1-59797-304-5.
  15. News: Elizabeth Bumiller . August 26, 2004 . A1 . The 2004 Campaign: Vietnam Record; Lawyer for Bush Quits Over Links to Kerry's Foes . "a veterans group that has leveled unsubstantiated attacks on Senator John Kerry's Vietnam War record in a book and on the air.". The New York Times.
  16. Book: Manjoo, Farhad. Farhad Manjoo. True Enough: Learning to Live in a Post-Fact Society. March 17, 2008. John Wiley & Sons. New Jersey. 14. 978-0-470-05010-1.
  17. News: Michael Getler . Detecting More Than History? . PBS . July 13, 2007.
  18. News: Glossary: US elections . BBC News . November 29, 2011 . Swift-boating The name given by Democrats to the tactic of unfairly attacking or smearing a candidate, often with half-truths. .
  19. Book: Campaign Finance Reform: The Political Shell Game. Melissa M.. Smith. Glenda C.. Williams. Larry. Powell. Gary A.. Copeland. Lexington Books. 2010. 978-0-7391-4566-1. 105. February 17, 2012.
  20. News: Halimah . Abdullah . GOP strategists: Bain attack ads are this year's Swift Boat campaign . CNN. July 25, 2012. August 19, 2012.
  21. News: Ex-Officers Attack Obama Over Leaks on Bin Laden Raid. The New York Times. August 15, 2012. August 15, 2012 . Shane . Scott . Kitty Bennett . A12.
  22. News: Steinem. Gloria. Clinton has been swiftboated by Trump and his acolytes. Financial Times. November 7, 2016. February 24, 2019.
  23. News: Cummings . William . Hillary Clinton: You 'cannot be civil' with Republicans, Democrats need to be 'tougher' . . September 10, 2016 . 9 August 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190208235045/https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2018/10/09/hillary-clinton-cnn-interview/1578636002/ . February 8, 2019 . live .
  24. Web site: 8 August 2024 . 9 August 2024 . Peter . Weber . Vance hits Walz with 'Swift boat' attack . .
  25. Web site: Ed . Kilgore . Why the Swiftboating of Tim Walz Won't Work . 8 August 2024 . 2024-08-09 . .
  26. Web site: Lauren . Irwin . Mikie Sherrill compares attacks on Tim Walz to Swift Boat smears of John Kerry . . 9 August 2024 . 9 August 2024 .
  27. Web site: Herb . Jeremy . 2024-08-09 . With 'Swift Boat' architect at the helm, Trump campaign uses familiar playbook against Walz . 2024-08-09 . . en.
  28. News: Vance runs a Swift Boat attack against Walz's military service . Jared . Mitovich . Meridith . McGraw . Connor . O'Brien . . 7 August 2024 . 9 August 2024 .
  29. News: Rosen. Mike. Story is none too 'swift'. . October 26, 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20130728122213/http://m.rockymountainnews.com/news/2006/Oct/27/brosenb-story-is-none-too-swift/ . dead . February 13, 2013. July 28, 2013 .
  30. News: Tyrrell. R. Emmett Jr.. Swiftboating has become a hate term . CNN . June 4, 2006. March 30, 2007.
  31. News: Moore. John. Behind the Scenes: Swift Boat Veterans vs. John Kerry. Useful Fools. November 16, 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20080513082737/https://www.tinyvital.com/blog/2007/09/16/behind-the-scenes-swift-boat-veterans-vs-john-kerry/ . dead . November 14, 2007. May 13, 2008 .
  32. Book: Gibson . John . 2009 . How the Left Swiftboated America: The Liberal Media Conspiracy to Make You Think George Bush was the Worst President in History . HarperCollins . vii–viii . 978-0-06-179289-2 . registration .
  33. News: Mike Allen . Jonathan Martin . Rush, right rally to McCain . Politico . https://web.archive.org/web/20150912154512/https://www.politico.com/story/2008/02/rush-right-rally-to-mccain-008617 . live . February 21, 2008. September 12, 2015 .
  34. News: Trip Gabriel . Gingrich Says He's Been 'Romney-Boated' . The Caucus (blog) . The New York Times . January 1, 2012.

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