Is the scoop from The Daily Caller’s Alex Pappas that much of a surprise? The super-PAC in question, CREDO, identifies its mission as “Take Down the Tea Party Ten.” Opponents of the Tea Party have rarely engaged on policy; almost from the start, they’ve maligned grassroots conservative activists as “racists,” and also violent government-hating anarchists, while at least enjoying rhetorical affiliation with more violent demonstrators of the Occupy variety. The only mistake the aptly-nicknamed Matthew “Mudcat” Arnold made was saying this out loud: According to an audio recording obtained by The Daily Caller, Matthew “Mudcat” Arnold, the national campaign manager of the liberal CREDO super PAC, told a gathering of supporters in Aurora, Colo., on Sept. 8 that they’ve realized “policy did not move voters.”
He used Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King as an example.
“When we said that Steve King … is pro-life and believes in cutting Social Security and voted for the Ryan budget, no one cared,” Arnold said. “When we said Steve King’s a racist, Steve King believes that immigrants ought to be put in electric fences, people moved.”
“When you talk about the substance of a man’s character, people respond,” Arnold continued. “Believe it or not, that is not something politicians knew.”
CREDO super PAC, which did not immediately return a request for comment from The Daily Caller on Thursday, bills itself as a “political committee working to defeat ten of the most odious tea party members of Congress.”
Odious? Sounds a little like projection. And this is an interesting admission from the campaign manager for CREDO. They can’t compete on their political agenda, and the only way they can impact elections is to sling mud at Republicans. Well, we’ve known that for quite a while, too. Maybe one day the ever-watchful concern trolls of the national media might notice it as well, although that’s more optimism than even I can muster.
It’s worth wondering just how much of a role Mudcat has in other campaigns. After all, the campaign and super-PAC allies for the incumbent Hope and Change President spent the summer painting his opponent as a greedy, heartless capitalist that probably committed felonies while causing the cancer and death of a former worker’s spouse years after the worker had been laid off. Team Obama has been Mudcatting for months. Either CREDO’s campaign manager has been moonlighting, or Mudcatting has spread like a social disease throughout the Left.
