By Scott Horton
When Bill Kristol wrote, in a recent New York Timescolumn, that McCain should fire his entire campaign staff, surely hehad deputy P.R. chief Michael Goldfarb in mind. Which is strange,because Goldfarb used to work for Kristol—and perhaps he will again ina few days. Watch Goldfarb disintegrate under questioning by CNN herewhen pressed on McCain's involvement in large-scale funding of a WestBank project that Columbia University Professor Rashid Khalidideveloped:
What gets lost here is this: Khalidi's project was and isterrific. McCain and Craner made the right call in funding it, andshould be congratulated for their foresight. However, it does ratherget in the way of the absurd slime campaign that Goldfarb has beendripping on Khalidi. Goldfarb's thinking is pretty facile: Khalidi hasa Arab name; no one is going to stand up for him; no one will takenotice of the fact that he's America's foremost historian of the MiddleEast. Goldfarb runs into rough waters, however, as CNN's Rick Sanchezinsists that he identify the anti-Semites with whom Obama "hangsaround." Sanchez accepts Goldfarb's characterization of Khalidi. Thatwas unprofessional on Sanchez's part—the suggestion that Khalidi is ananti-Semite is, as Joe Klein observes in Time,"fatuous" to begin with. True, he is a critic of the government ofIsrael. On the other hand, I have no shortage of Israeli friends whoare more pointed in their criticism of the Israeli government than isKhalidi. Does that make them all "anti-Semites"? Goldfarb struggles,sputters, and can't identify a person. But note that this doesn't stophim for a second from unloading his McCarthyite bombload.
This evening, Bill Kristol, appearing on the Daily Show,acknowledges again that the McCain campaign has been "poorly" run. Butisn't that an understatement? Goldfarb got a client with a sterlingreputation–a genuine war hero, a man viewed by many as the DanielWebster of his generation. He managed to drag his client's name throughthe gutter and to undermine an identity crafted over twenty-seven yearsin Washington. He also contrived to demolish McCain's rapport with themedia, painstakingly built over a generation. Calling his performance"poor" just doesn't do it justice. More apt might be "histrionic,juvenile, and unprofessional."
Keith Olbermann at MSNBC has some fun focusing on anotherpoint: Goldfarb's failure to do even the most rudimentary researchbefore he launches his attacks. I don't for a second doubt the power ofthe lie wielded as a political instrument. But those who, following inthe tradition of Machiavelli, would use the lie as a political weaponmust learn to lie cleverly, so that the lie is not immediately exposed.Goldfarb has failed this very basic test.
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