Cahill: We underestimated the Swift Vet ads

From Newsday:

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- The campaign manager for Sen. John Kerry's failed presidential bid said Wednesday she regrets underestimating the impact of an attack advertisement that questioned Kerry's Vietnam War record.

Mary Beth Cahill, who spoke at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government with Ken Mehlman, President Bush's campaign manager, said the Massachusetts senator's campaign initially thought there would be "no reach" to the ad from Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

Instead, the ad, which initially aired in just three states, became a central issue of the campaign, eventually forcing Kerry to personally deny the group's allegations that he did not deserve his combat medals.

"This is the best $40,000 investment made by any political group, but it was only because of the news coverage that it got where it did," she said.

"In hindsight, maybe we should have put Senator Kerry out earlier, perhaps we could have cut it off earlier."

No Shit. I hope upon hope that she for some reason was too busy to watch Fox for a few days. They fanned the flames, and this was the lead story for about a week. I can imagine someone thinking "They have an ad budget of 40,000. There's no possibility that they'll get any traction. We shouldn't even dignify this kind of slime with a response."

This kind of mistake had better never happen again. These people have an entire 24 hour network at their disposal, bought and paid for by their legislative action.

Remember, these are people who, from the president down, have no sense of shame. No shot is too cheap.

The only way to beat them is to dive into the sewer after them and wrestle it out in the slime.