It’s often been observed that the essence of politics in the Bush-Cheney-Rove era was to attack your opponent over your own weaknesses, and to campaign on the opponent’s own strengths — for example, the 2004 Republican campaign attacked Vietnam War veteran John Kerry as a military coward, while campaigning on the bravery of an incumbent who got out of combat duty.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=140226