this flathead right wingnut--Bill Pascoe--claims to have worked on a lot of campaigns at different levels. He whines that his candidate, Bret Schundler, running for governor of NJ in 2001, lost the election because "the Democrats had succeeded in creating a caricature of the leader I knew. . . . we simply didn't effectively counter the Democrats' simple mantra, repeated ad nauseam, that he was "too conservative" for New Jersey. . . ."
<snip>
. . . The lessons are four-fold, and they are simple: First, understand why your opponent has problems with significant elements of his base, and drive wedges where you can, to the maximum extent possible; second,
recognize that it is not your campaign's job to tell the objective truth, it's your campaign's job to tell the version of the truth that puts your opponent in the worst light possible (it's his campaign's job, after all, to do the same to you); third, don't get suckered into the trap of only talking about issues the media says are important -- instead, choose the issue matrix over which you want to wage war, and stick to it no matter what; and fourth, if need be, if you can't make a legitimate argument against your opponent on a key issue, use your opponent's party's position on the issue as the battleground, and wrap it around his neck.
Make him pay for the sins of his party. Guilt by association still works, so don't be shy in exploiting it. . . .
</snip>
much more--he talks about how to distort the issues of "gay marriage," gun laws, parental notification re teen abortion, national security, and foreign policy.
http://www.politicsus.com/Pascoe%20columns/112403.htmon edit: just discovered this piece by Democrat Paul Goldman on the same site, refuting Pascoe's piece:
http://www.politicsus.com/Goldman%20columns/112503.htm