Ace Supreme

I was interested to read in Lloyd Grove that Howard Dean has hired Ace Smith to do oppo research on his opponents. Those of us who follow California politics are familiar with Ace, an operative associated with the famous puke politics of Gray Davis. According to that linked transcript, it was Ace himself who came up with idea of distorting Dick Riordon’s abortion record for the supposedly unforgivable ads they ran to “interfere” with the Republican primary. (The phrase was coined, by the way, not by Arnold Schwarzenegger but by fellow Democrat Bill Lockyer who put the handcuffs and muzzle on Davis during the recall when he told him, “No more puke politics.”)

Personally, I don’t have a big problem with hardball politics in this day and age. I think it’s probably smart to be as rough and tumble as you have to be. Certainly, the Republicans aren’t going to hold back, so we’d better be prepared to hit back.

I do wonder, however, how sadly betrayed many of Dean’s supporters must be to learn that he would hire such a low-life, dirt digging, mud slinging political bad boy as old Ace. I feel their pain. Considering the fact that the Clark campaign’s hiring of the deplorable Chris Lehane’s wife was considered to be a total capitulation to the reprehensible tactics of cynical DLC nasty campaigning, I can only imagine how hurt they must be to find that the lowlife Ace has been brought on board.

Frankly, I say do what you feel you have to do, Howard Dean. Take off the gloves and flay anybody who gets in the way, Democrat or Republican. That may be what it takes to defeat 9 other Democrats and George W. Bush.

But, please folks, spare me any more of the kumbaya, up-with-people, no negative campaigning crapola, ok? These guys are playing to win — and Dean is one tough sumbitch who’s prepared to wrestle down in the mud with the worst of them.