The presidential election turned a corner this week. Both campaigns are on the attack. John McCain and Sarah Palin are linking Barack Obama to radical extremists, and the Obama camp is dredging up McCain’s role in the Savings & Loan scandal of the 1980s.
Digging and character assassination are not new to politics, but they signal the kind of hardball tactics perfected by late GOP strategist Lee Atwater. Atwater was a master manipulator. He knew how to leak just enough information to get journalists to poke around the dark corners of an opponent’s life. He’s known for the infamous "Willy Horton" ad that kneecapped Michael Dukakis’ shot at the White House. He was a rumor-spreader, a political streetfighter, and a man who put winning elections over everything else.
He’s also the subject of a brand-new documentary by filmmaker Stefan Forbes. It’s called Boogieman: The Lee Atwater Story. Stefan joins us live from the studios of The Argot Network in New York.
Boogieman: The Lee Atwater Story will be at Red River Theater in Concord this weekend. Click here for more information and show times. And watch the preview below:
