Presidential advisor David Axelrod demonstrates that he could hold his own in a debate with any sixth grader if ever he had to. The White House, as you've probably heard by now, has been smearing the Chamber of Commerce, a coalition of mostly small businesses, for allegedly using foreign money to fund campaign ads.
Bob Schieffer, himself an Obama sympathizer and host of Face the Nation, last Sunday asked Axelrod if he had any evidence to support these charges. Axelrod's answer, a real stunner, was essentially, "Do you have any evidence that the CC is not using foreign money, Bob?"
Not only is Axelrod's reply monumentally dumb, it's also malicious.
Suppose you hear someone allege that a friend of yours is cheating on his spouse. The appropriate reaction would be to demand that the accuser produce the evidence his allegations are true. If the accuser replied to your demand by asking whether you have any evidence that the husband is not unfaithful I'm pretty sure you would dismiss the accuser, scornfully and rightfully, as a boneheaded slanderer.
Axelrod asks why the CC won't release the names of their donors, but there are two good reasons for not doing so. First, they're under no legal obligation to disclose their contributors' names, but second and more importantly, once those donors are identified they would be subject to the sort of harrassment and intimidation the thugs at SEIU and ACORN are so good at, and Axelrod knows it. It would be completely irresponsible of the CC to release their donor list.
What Axelrod and others in the administration (VP Biden, has also made this allegation about the CC) are doing is the sort of tactic that the Obama circle learned from their radical guru Saul Alinsky. Do whatever you can to smear and discredit your opponent. The end of winning justifies whatever means are necessary to achieve it. It's pretty tawdry stuff.
By the way, Schieffer's question at the 3:25 mark of the video is lapidary. Look for it to show up on signs and ads everywhere.
