License to character assassinate
I have often wrote about how easy it would be to attack a political candidate more or less anonymously over the Internet. I predicted that it would be an issue in 2004 and I was wrong. I feel more comfortable about renewing that thought for 2008. Perhaps I'm just an early adopter.
It's already happening. Former Senator and character actor extraordinaire Fred Thompson has been contending with a vicious web site called PhonyFred.com that attacks Thompson for many things including calling him: Fancy Fred, Five o’Clock Fred, Flip-Flop Fred, McCain Fred, Moron Fred and Playboy Fred. "Playboy" Fred?
The site is being attributed to Romney because the creator of the site is a Vice President at the strategic firm advising Romney's run.
So these guys are pretty dumb, right? It's pretty easy to hide the trail--certainly easier than that. Obfuscate the domain name contact info, choose a generic corporate name when opening up the ISP account and better yet, host it outside the US. It works just as quickly if the server is in the Caymans as if it's in New York.
If we don't soon see lots of these trash n' flash sites, I'll be surprised. It's so easy to do, only what might still pass as integrity should stop any candidate from trying it. Hell, call me. I'll consult.
Posted on September 12, 2007
