Democrats were promising a new direction for the war, and to make their case, they had just nominated a decorated war veteran to be there nominee, a man who had been awarded the silver star, the bronze star, and three Purple Hearts for valor in combat. Thank you. Im john kerry, and i am reporting for duty. [ cheers and applause ] senator john kerry made his Military Service in vietnam Essential Part of his campaign for president that year. In the weeks after he accepted the democratic nomination, kerry consistently led the incumbent, resident george w. Bush in the polls, but then in august, everything changed. That was when these campaign ads started airing. I served with john kerry. I served with john kerry. John kerry has not been honest about what happened in vietnam. He is lying about his record. Is a central image of john kerrys campaign, the candidate, literally, wrapping his arms around his vietnam friends, but now republicans are challenging his war record with other vietnam veterans. None of them served on kerrys boat, claiming that he did not earn his medals. They were the Swift Boat Veterans For Truth ads, and they were one of, if not the most impactful and most dishonest ad campaigns in president ial history. For weeks, the National News covered the story, comparing different accounts of john kerrys war record. Eventually, it was revealed that the swift boat veterans stories about senator kerry did not line up with the official record, but by that point, the damage had been done. The ads had aired across multiple swing states. President bush opened up a wide lead in the polls, and kerrys Campaign Never recovered. The phrase, Swift Boating, has been used to describe unfair political attacks, but the impact of that ad, the impact of that campaign went well beyond reelecting george bush and broadening our political lexicon, because the people behind that campaign continued to test the boundaries of conservative politics and shape them for years to come. Among the top contributors to the Swift Boat Campaign were people like the late bob perry, an instrumental figure. Instrumental in turning americas evangelical movement into a conservative voting base. Also, harlan crow, the man who has been in the news recently for his lavish patronage of Supreme CourtJustice Clarence thomas. Patronage that includes Luxury Vacations and private plane flights, and questionable real estate purchases. Two of the central players in the swiftboat affair were these men, john oneill and jerome corsi. They coauthored the book, unfit for command. That would become the main source for many of the false or misleading accusations against senator kerry. John oneill went on to become a director of one of the conservative movements most prominent antiislam groups, the David Horwitz freedom center, which focuses on the efforts of the radical left and its islamic allies to destroy american values. Jerome corsi went on to become one of the leading proponents of the birther conspiracy, which baselessly claimed that barack obama was not born in the united states. He later became a bureau chief for alex joness info wars. But, of all the controversial conservatives involved in the swiftboat smear, there is one man, who is credited with being its mastermind. His name is chris lawson vida. As new York Magazine puts it, it was he who turned the fringe allegations into a campaign, funded by millions of dollars and shadowy contributions. Where is Chris Lacivita today . Where is he . Well, he is running, pretty much, everything. Chris lacivita currently serves as Donald Trumps top political adviser. He has been described as the campaigns defective campaign manager. Lacivita was the brains behind the Trump Campaign efforts to smother ron desantis is president ial campaign while it was still in its infancy, now, in addition to his prominent role on the Trump Campaign, mr. Lacivita has a new job, leading trumps takeover of the Republican National committee. According to the Washington Post, trumps team, led by lacivita, is embarking on the political equivalent of shock and awe. Senior leadership at the rnc has been entirely replaced, or reassigned, while dozens of lower ranking officials, including state directors, were either fired or told to reapply for their jobs. The firings were done by lacivita. Among the people lacivita has hired as replacements, his lawyer, christina bob. She is on the left. A former reporter for the right wing News Channel Oweh and, and a outspoken election denier. She will now be the Senior Counsel for Election Integrity. Election integrity being the rights preferred vehicle for engaging in Voter Intimidation and claims of voter fraud. Those are some of the changes that we know of at this moment. But, what does it mean, really, quite practically, that the guy behind the swift smear is running another president ial campaign . New York Magazine suggests that kerrys past filled with trickery and lies provides a template for how he will go after joe biden and the democrats. Not by attacking what is perceived as bidens weaknesses, but his strengths. Joining me now is michael share, a political reporter for the Washington Post that reported that story about trumps takeover of the rnc. Also with me is former rnc chair, michael steele. Michael steele, let me first ask you about the appointment of Chris Lacivita, famous for the swiftboat campaign, and subsequent, very intense, to be euphemistic, conservative campaigns what do you think the practical effect will be on the Trump Campaign as we enter the general election . Its less the practical effect on the Trump Campaign, but the practical effect the Trump Campaign has on everything else. It is the shock and awe. It is the idea of creating damage that will come in short bursts and longer bursts, that cannot be contained. It is an asymmetrical political game, which i have been telling folks, these guys have been playing for the last six or seven years, and now, it will come to fruition in this cycle, because it all matters right now. It all has to work right now because when they get the power back, thats how the rest of it is done. Lacivita going to the rnc is a way to have him straddle two universes, have his role in the campaign diminished, obviously, because of the requirements by law, but also, having his ear and hands on the levers of power inside the Republican National committee, to make sure that the money, the structure, the infrastructure, the organization, and most essentially, which is what the firings were about, the personnel, the people are doing exactly what the design is. That design, again, asymmetrical , means that you dont know that its going to be the same tomorrow as it is today, and thats one of the strengths. The Swift Boating showed, and what we have seen from trump, particularly, in this election cycle. This is not 2016, folks. Its not even 2020, trust me. I want to get back to that, but the importance of whats happening at the rnc, michael, which he reported on, so hopefully, today the bloodletting has been swift and it has been vicious, and it is, effectively, trump at all costs. I understand that from the perspective of donald trump, and to some degree, Chris Lacivita, but what about the Republican Party . Not everybody has a last name trump. What are the applications for other republicans running . There are two things to know about Chris Lacivita and the way that trump has been running his campaign. Its a far more competent campaign that we saw in 2016 or 2020, it is topdown, its organized, they have a plan, they know what they are doing. There is not the Personnel Turnover that we saw in the last two cycles, so far. They went through the primaries very smoothly. Chris, with susie wiles, has and a key part of that. The defining feature of Chris Lacivita is, he is a combatant. He wants to be in the fight, and he is fighting hard. You have seen the style of how he has taken over the rnc. Its normal for a nominee or presumptive nominee to take over the National Party at this point, but Chris Lacivita this week, went in and really cleared house in a dramatic way. He made a lot of people in the building upset. There is concern, as you mentioned, about Down Valley Republicans having the same benefits. He is Closing Community centers in some communities, and reassigning that money and that effort to be more focused on trump. Now, lacivita will say that trump is at the top of the ticket. When trump wins, republicans will win upanddown the ballots, that is the most important thing. What we dont know is how its going to affect the state level, and we will see how the senate and the house campaigns come along with these changes. I want to talk about that, early voting outreach. That seems like something you might not want to do, and yet, it fits absolutely in line with what republicans have been advocating under the banner of donald trump for several years now. Michael, how much of an investment how much is that cutting off your nose to spite your face . Sorry, michael steele. Sorry, michael. Its all of that. Oh, yeah, lets put everything behind winning the presidency. You are going to let Governors Hangout . What about governors in purple states . What about candidates in purple districts . How do they navigate a toxic candidate at the top of the ticket like donald trump . Where you know, that candidate is going to need democratic and independent voters to support them, but now, all the focus and emphasis is on trump, so what do you think and who do you think those candidates are going to be talking about . And so, it is a strategy about one person, because thats how donald trump wants it to be. Thats why his daughterinlaw is running the rnc. Thats why putin is running the rnc. Thats why watley was picked to run the rnc. The other side of the scenario is that when trump loses this election, or if trump loses this election, you are going to have the same narrative around stolen elections, a rigged election, all of that, and he will have the bodies in place to prosecute that case better and more effectively from that point forward, which he did not have less time, because, oh, i dunno, people actually believed the constitutional oath they took and their responsibility to the country to uphold the election results, and that got in the way. Trump has largely cleared the way, and the cost will be to the rnc and the candidates running across the country in various state races and statewide races that are going to have to figure out how to find the resources and infrastructure they need to be successful, because if it aint about trump, it certainly wont be about them. Michael scherer, michael still mix a great point, which is, when youre talking about Election Integrity, as i said earlier, that is about Voter Intimidation, but it is an Insurance Policy against a lost election, which is we can claim voter fraud, and now he has the ambassadors, if you will, in place, Christina Bobb chief among them. Can you give me a sense of what the Election Integrity efforts might entail, or the expectations that Christina Bobb will be an effective general on that front . I think that christina will be the front person on that front, and she will be on tv a lot. She will be speaking to the base and carrying the president s message, which we have known for three years now, which is any election he is not performed well and is a fraud. I think there is a real effort here to do what a lot of republicans feel the rnc did not do well in 2020 up to the election day and after election day. Up to the election day, republicans felt like they were wiped out with questions of early voting, lots of questions about signature verification, voter i. D. There is not much time left, but the rnc wants to go back in and relitigate that stuff. There was a lawsuit filed today in michigan, in which the rnc is asking the state of michigan to clear their voter rolls, because they say there are too many old names on the voter rolls. Interestingly, they brought in charlie spieth, another name we havent mentioned. He is one of the most respected republican election lawyers. He was the guy behind jeb bush is super pac, the guy behind Ron Desantiss campaign. The guy behind mitt romneys super pac. He is being brought in because they believe he actually knows how to do this well, whereas, i think Christina Bobb, she is well known among the best base, wellknown on tv, but i dont think she is going to be the legal mind behind the scenes deciding how to prosecute this. I believe everybody the quote from new York Magazine. In 2016, the Trump Campaign was a shambolic operation. By 2020, you had a more professionalized operation, but it was effectively being led by trumps web designer, and now we get to see what happens when you bring in some of the most shrewd, calculating, and ruthless operators in the party. An experiment of the national stage. Michael scherer, michael steele, the two michaels, thank you for your time today. We have much more ahead, including, how are you going to learn the moves for beyoncis Texas Hold Em dance if congress bands the app . More portly, what are the applications for American Politics if that Communication Line goes dead. But first, the Fulton County district attorneys Sprawling Election interference case just got a little more narrow. We are going to talk about that and what it means for donald trump with melissa redman, former Fulton County district attorney, coming up next. Type 2 diabetes . 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