Countdown: Dirty South Carolina Politics & The Swiftboating Of John McCain

By Logan Murphy — January 15, 2008

South Carolina is known for its dirty politics and no one knows more about that than Senator John McCain. He suffered despicable personal attacks by George Bush and Karl Rove during the 2000 presidential campaign, and once again he finds himself the victim of a brutal and baseless smear campaign, similar to the swift boat ads John Kerry encountered in 2004.

Keith Olbermann talks with Jonathan Alter on today's Countdown about negative campaign ads being distributed in South Carolina attacking GOP candidates and about a particularly nasty flier attacking Senator John McCain by a group calling itself Vietnam Veterans Against John McCain that accuses the senator, who was held captive in Vietnam for some five years, of betraying his fellow POW's during his captivity. This group's website is really cheesy, and regardless of your political views, this kind of attack is the epitome of dirty politics. The flier is so bad the original Swift Boat Veterans for Truth group that attacked John Kerry is condemning it.

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