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Playing Rumor Games

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 28, 2008

The Associated Press

Barack Obama is not a member of a socialist party. John McCain is not a foreigner. Sarah Palin is not Trig's grandmother. And Joe Biden is not dropping out of the race. Oh, and they're not all having sordid affairs.

But it's Rumor Season again in this country, and with just days to go before the election, both campaigns are frantically knocking down these rumors - often spreading virally on the Internet - along with a steady stream of other nasty hints and allegations that range from the questionable to the outrageous.

One thing you can believe: It'll only get worse between now and Election Day. The trouble with rumors, as representatives at both campaigns said, is that even refuting them means they are repeated. Nonetheless, they said sometimes you just have to talk about it, explain why it's false, and move on.

Here's the campaigns' takes on rumors, and how they handle them:

DEMOCRAT BARACK OBAMA

Obama's spokesman Tommy Vietor said their strategy has been to "confront these rumors head-on" with a designated Web site - stopthesmears.com - and to make sure precinct captains are given factual information to counter the "ridiculous false rumors that have swirled in this campaign."

"Our experience is that voters are smart, voters are resourceful," said Vietor.

Recent rumors, mostly floated online and on conservative radio and television talk shows, have lately intensified about Obama and usually come in the form of questions.

"Who wrote Obama's autobiography, 'Dreams From My Father?'" asked conservative Web site and talk show hosts last week, hinting that the writing was so sophisticated and used similar styles, including "water metaphors," that radical William Ayers must have been the true author. He wasn't. Obama was. "Utter hogwash," said Obama organizers debunking the claim.

REPUBLICAN JOHN MCCAIN

"It's obviously an unfortunate development that we've seen in this election season, more than in elections past, but ultimately we trust the voters and their good sense," said McCain spokesman Brian Rogers.

When Alaska's Gov. Sarah Palin was tapped to be McCain's running mate, a deluge of rumors began about this little-known Republican from a remote state.

Three days after her selection, reporters from a dozen national media organizations including the AP lined up at a Palmer, Alaska, courthouse counter and paged through a divorce settlement of a friend of Palin's to see if she was named as the cause of their strife. She was not. They've sought her baby's birth records and someone even hacked her private e-mail.

Eight years ago, McCain lost a strong lead in the South Carolina GOP primary after what a campaign aide later described as "a textbook example of a smear."

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