Nancy Johnson's campaign manager David Boomer strikes me as about as low a form of amoebic slime as one finds in politics. Boomer has led a dirty campaign against Chris Murphy and now, as Murphy's challenge is conceded by the NRCC as likely to unseat Johnson in a wave, Boomer reaches deep into the barrel of Republican smears like those used against Harold Ford and Mike Arcuri, and accused Murphy of buddying up with drug dealers.
The ad closes when Murphy reaches another house, where he is warmly embraced by a garishly dressed drug dealer.
"Murphy!" the actor playing the drug dealer says. "You want to weaken penalties for drug dealers, man! That's so cool. Come on in."
The smallness of this slur on Murphy's moral fiber is so low that it merits no mention other than as a representation on how scared Republicans are of their Democratic challengers this election cycle. No insult is too false, no attack too uncouth.
But what really gets me angry isn't the childish attacks based around the words and actions of actors in their own commercials, but Boomer's promiscuous attitude towards the truth with Hartford Courant reporter Rinker Buck. Buck debunks the Johnson campaign's accusation that Murphy had voted twenty-seven times to raise taxes. Boomer's response, though, is ripped straight from Ken Mehlman Book on Etiquette and Morality.
Johnson campaign manager David Boomer said during an interview Wednesday that he is heavily involved in both researching and writing the congresswoman's ads. He acknowledged many questions about the tax claims.
"I've always been honest with the press," Boomer said. "From day one, when reporters called and questioned the accuracy of these ads, Boomer has always been available and totally honest."
When asked if more than a dozen of the increases mentioned in his ads were actually bipartisan budget bills, Boomer said:
"Correct. A number of these [bills referred to in the ads] were the budget and tax packages worked out in compromise between the governor and the legislature. ... Yes, Jodi Rell signed all of these bills. ... We're simply saying that Murphy is a tax raiser. He raised taxes in Hartford, and he'll raise them in Washington."
Boomer concedes that as both Chris Murphy and Rinker Buck have noted, the majority of the tax increases (14 of 27) were part of budget bills, nullifying any culpability on Murphy for raising taxes. He admits that the Johnson claim is pure bunk. And then gets back on smear message "We're simply saying that Murphy is a tax raiser." Damn the facts, WE'RE SAYING SOMETHING!
Boomer and Johnson's brand of lying is of that special type that knows fully well what the truth is and isn't concerned by the disconnect. There are books that have been written about this. Johnson's ad reeks of fear and desperation and Boomer's loyalty to the fabrication that has become a planck of the Johnson campaign is truly startling. Caught in a lie and accepting it, Boomer continues to lie.
If Nancy Johnson wins reelection it will be on the back of her and her campaign managers dutiful willingness to lie, smear, and generally shit on the truth in their effort to scare voters away from Chris Murphy. Maybe they're comfortable with that, but I sure am not.
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