I forwarded a smear email to the Obama campaign. In less than an hour I got a response.

[DevonRex]

My sister sent me another disgusting email. This one basically insinuated that Obama is the Manchurian candidate. Won't go into too much detail here for obvious reasons. Anyway, I forwarded it to the Obama campaign. On the fightthesmears.com site in the upper left-hand corner, there's an email address where you forward the viral email to [e-mail]. In less than an hour, I got a reply that addresses the specific "issues" in the smear.

After you get a reply, you forward it to everyone who got the smear mail. My sister probably won't be happy that her entire address book got the official campaign response. LOL! She had even sent it to Bill-O.

I am amazed at the incredible organization of the Obama campaign. He must have interns and staffers working 24/7 on these smear mails. And it was wonderful that I didn't have to spend any time finding all the correct information and links to fight this particular smear. It was SO easy. [e-mail] is all you need.

[gateley]

1. Your post got me thinking --

this is such an indication of how an Obama presidency would be conducted. How impressive and comforting.

[DevonRex]

4. That's exactly how I felt. He prepares for all possibilities and then

he deals with whatever happens in a simple, timely, straightforward manner.

[dmr]

9. Like my dad would say on how to say or do things: "Short, sweet and simple"

I always try to remember that, too, and passed it on to my son - who does a much better job at it than me! :)

I'm so excited about an Obama presidency, I can barely contain myself!

22 days until the election!
Whoopeee!!

[PatSeg]

53. I've never seen a campaign quite like it

They are organized and innovative. The VP text messages were brilliant and the timing impeccable. Bill Clinton's campaign was excellent, but Obama blows all preceding campaigns away.

Yes, if this is the way he runs a campaign, I am very confident that he will run an efficient and effective White House.

[slampoet]

48. Government working like a good tech support department.

I'll buy that for my dollar.

[George II]

59. I think he's going to be a GREAT president....

note on your picture....did you ever wonder why Obama and Biden are always grinning ear to ear while McCain and Palin look grim in most of their pictures?

[Occam Bandage]

2. Wow. That's pretty darn impressive.

[DevonRex]

5. I am in awe. Poor McKKK must be too. :)

[barbiegeek]

52. McKKK=McKlan=McCain

[Lancer]

3. Wow. A real response! Not a form letter automatically generated.

This is the best run presidential campaign in history.

[DevonRex]

6. Wonder what Bill-O will think when he reads the campaign response.

And I wonder how many other people have been sending him those smear mails.

[Essene]

7. that's really great

[jhain]

8. THANK YOU

I received one this morning- created a filter (directly to the Trash) with the email addy as I had NO idea who is was. Just pulled it out of the trash and forwarded it to [e-mail].

THANK YOU.

[DevonRex]

19. You're quite welcome. This is just SO cool. nt

[AllentownJake]

10. They probably have staff that's only job it is to do is read

Freerebulic all day because that shit normally gets tested on there before its sent out for mass distribution.

[MadrasT]

20. Ouch, that would really take some dedication.

Of course, it's also an endless source of amusement...

[cui bono]

33. Here they are carpooling to work:

[AnneD]

58. When they were here during the primaries....

I met lots of kids that had taken a tear off from college just to work the campaign. I was impressed. Must have been like that with Kennedy was all I could think.

Even my daughter is all fired up. The young WILL HAVE THEIR VOTES COUNTED THIS YEAR. Rove doesn't have any idea of the shit storm that is about to happen.

[awoke_in_2003]

66. I would read freerepublic all day...

but I would expect to get paid $150k a year- need to get paid for that kind of work.

[Starry Messenger]

11. kickety-kick

I feel bad for the staffers who have to wade through the toxic BS to refute it. We'll owe some medals of bravery after this election. I dip my toe in FR every so often and always come away feeling my soul is all sticky.

[DevonRex]

12. Me too. It's wonderful that we don't have to wade through garbage

to respond to the smears. Obama staffers do it so we don't have to. It was so simple and so quick. Like taking out the trash.

[Rambis]

13. I have been doing this since the caucus

I had an Obama supporter/canvasser early on tell me that Elizabeth Edwards illness could be exploited by our enemies if John Edwards became president. I thought the campaign should know what this person representing Obama was saying. It did bother me and I knew it would seriously turn off others (hedging bets in case Obama was it) so I let somebody in charge know straight away. It is just good to have a response to BS no matter where it comes from.

[Barking Spider]

14. RESPOND TO ALL - I used that tactic with my Dad once

He sent some stupid mass email nonsense about Abu Graib. I responded to all and chastised him with the facts and shamed his Christian sensibilities for approving torture. He didn't like getting spanked (I was respectful - he is my Dad and I love him) in front of his kids, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, friends and associates. He snapped off a "You don't have a sense of humor" email and I again responded to all - "You're right - Which of those pictures made Jesus laugh the hardest?"

The public shaming apparently worked. I never get those emails anymore. AND, my evangelical sister wrote me to say that I was right.

[grannylib]

32. Oh, SNAP! What a comeback! I LOVE that line!

May I steal it???
I can think of a thousand uses/variations on that.

That's awesome!

[Laelth]

35. Wow! That's tough. I admire your courage.

You did the right thing.

:dem:

-Laelth

[medeak]

15. JUST RECEIVED REPLY IN 5 MINUTES!!!!!

thank you! site was down yesterday probably from hoardes of repuke emails sent out.

[DevonRex]

21. Wow!!! That is fantastic! Good work on your part. No telling how many

people we can reach this way. Even ones that don't want to be reached, hee hee.

[yardwork]

16. This is wonderful! Thank you for posting this.

The next time somebody who is very concerned drags some piece of crap over here and bleats "help me with this" we can send them to Obama's website.

[yardwork]

17. The "reply to all" button works like magic to clear one's inbox.

[DevonRex]

18. I bet I won't get another of these emails from my sister, heh heh.

She's probably reeling this morning, knowing that all her friends got the Obama response. And there were like 30 that she had sent the smear mail to. So that's 30 people who got the right information when I hit "reply all."

[yardwork]

22. It's so interesting how right-wingers hate to be called out by the truth.

If I sent an email to a bunch of people and my facts were wrong, I would be grateful to have a recipient correct the record. But Rethugs are usually embarrassed, probably because their inaccuracies are delivered in a nasty, snide format.

I've found that a polite but thorough debunking of their lies, replied to all, works wonders.

[tanyev]

23. Very cool. I'm curious if you'll get any replies.

[grace0418]

25. Why is it that people who send out this crap don't know how to use bcc?

Good job educating folks!

[Connonym]

41. I did that and got the most awful hateful emails from people I don't know

Disgusting racist crap. They're so far down the rabbit hole that there's nothing any of us can say that will change their nasty tiny minds.

[TankLV]

70. I sent a "reply all" to those types too, and also got some hatefull emails...

and I again sent back STRONGLY worded rebuttals with their hateful responses to "all" - it only took a couple more "reply all" before I never received any more...

the last one was "I don't know you and I don't appreciate getting these emails from you..." and I wrote "then stop sending out this crap, and you won't receive my TRUTHFUL rebuttals...they didn't like that at ALL...

they would then respond with "you can just delete the posts and not "reply" and I said I will NEVER back down, and will continue to do so for ALL FUTURE EMAILS I MAY RECEIVE...

that pretty much stopped their crap...

[Ian_rd]

24. When I get a chain email, I consider it license to do a Reply All

... and more if other email addresses are visible.

And it's freakin' awesome how the Obama campaign is taking these things seriously.

[Hekate]

26. THAT is amazing. It's like the guy learned from all the past Democratic Party campaign mistakes....

Whodathunkit?! :wow:

Hekate

[Obamanaut]

27. It is amazing! I was directed to this thread as a result of a post I

made earlier today. I sent them the most recent smear email I rec'd, and like you, got a response in less than an hour.

If this is a portent of things to come, the next four years are really going to be something!

Thanks for the link.

[Dem_4_Life]

28. Wow, that is really impressive.

I sent that email address to a friend who keeps getting slammed with smear campaign emails. This should help her. Thanks.

:applause:

[progressoid]

29. Ugh. I think I've received that one.

I was so disgusted I didn't even reply. Normally I hit 'reply all', but this time I just deleted it and haven't conversed with the sender since (4 months ago).


Good for you for forwarding it. :thumbsup:

[skooooo]

30. Obama is a confident, overachiever...we're not used..

...to seeing that in politics.

[Wednesdays]

31. K 'n' R

:kick:

[Laelth]

34. K&R for the best campaign I have witnessed in my lifetime.

:dem:

-Laelth

[Cha]

36. Wow! Thank you, Jennifer Z! To think your sis

was the catalyst for getting this out to us. Silver linings.

[Triana]

37. Everytime I see that someone here received an Obama smear email - I tell them to send it...

...to [e-mail]!

That's why! :)

And even if you already have a rebuttal to the smearmail - send the smearmail AND the response/rebuttal to [e-mail]. They can use it, if they don't aready have a response.

:)

[Dr Fate]

38. I didnt know he was doing that- very cool! n/t

n/t

[JaneQPublic]

39. Wasn't the Manchurian Candidate a former POW? Hmmm (nt)

[GinaMaria]

50. yep. Frank Sinatra iirc

played the POW who was hypnotized. It's been a while since I've seen it, but iirc the mother character was in on it. Quite a sinister tale, but compelling.

[AllieB]

51. It was Laurence Harvey that playes the Manchurian Candidate.

Frank Sinatra was a member of his squad who uncovered the truth.

[SoxFan]

40. I just received a crazygram

A local political crank is trying to tie Obama to the travails of the state Dem chairman. Very sleazy stuff, but so clunky that it is pretty easy to figure out who is sending it out.

[FloridaJudy]

42. Obama's damned smart

And knows how important the 'net is, and has hired people who are geniuses at it. McCain's technophobia is going to turn and bite him in the butt.

[mtnsnake]

43. Thanks, JenniferZ. Your post reinforces the notion of how careful & responsible Obama is

This guy covers all bases of his campaigning. How cool that the Obama campaign responded so quickly in the manner they did to you.

You are so thoughtful to take the action you did!

:thumbsup:

[SmokingJacket]

44. If Kerry had done something like that, maybe we would have had a very

different four years.

Anyway, thanks for doing that! I love the idea of respamming everyone...

[LWolf]

45. If I forward you one, would you like to do the honors?

I can't respond to it personally. It came to me at work, from the parent of one of my students. I can't engage parents politically.

[DevonRex]

49. I'll be happy to do that. These things can get a bit sticky, huh, when

it's coworkers. I'll PM you my email address.

[stuntcat]

46. You ROCK, Thank You!

Thank you for straightening people out!!! :headbang:

[Pacifist Patriot]

47. Obama's the Manchurian Candidate?! That's rich. Since his opponent was the one...

captured by the enemy and held prisoner. Who knows what they did to McCain's head for five years. Sheesh!

[ailsagirl]

54. keep this kicked

[Terran]

55. That's excellent. it's this kind of thing that assures me

that Obama will pick truly competent people to be in his administration.

[PassingFair]

56. Sorry about your sister....

how'd YOU turn out so good?!

[DevonRex]

62. Thanks for the sympathy. Sometimes I need it. I turned out pretty

good because I left home, got a great education, went into the military, and realized that almost everything I had been taught about politics and religion was wrong. I come from a racist, fundie, republican family. Although they'll deny the racist part. Don't they all?

[PassingFair]

74. They must have been ROCK-BOTTOM horrible, if you learned empathy in the MILITARY!

Gives me hope for our kids in uniform!

[gauguin57]

57. I've sent them four different smear-mails I've read about or received ... they've been very prompt .

... they send emails FULL of links, to send to those who sent the smears to you.

Fabulous. GOBAMA!

[bos1]

60. I got attacked on DU for a similar request

So THANK YOU. I tried to get this info about another smear, and got attacked by a lot of DUers for even asking the question. This is the answer I was looking for -- a way to get the Obama campaign to help me fight the smears when they come up (and not have to do a lengthy research that they probably already have done to refute the smear).

[DevonRex]

61. And the beauty of it is that you don't even have to read the entire

smarmy email yourself. I just skimmed that last one and forwarded it immediately and got a response right away.

Some of them are so disgusting, so sleezy, that it's really difficult to wade through the muck. Now we don't have to. :) and :hi:

[bos1]

73. Good point! They are often stomach-turning, aren't they? n/t

[BluePatriot21]

63. flip em

Mothers of children at my sons school would forward these emails to my wife and on down the email chain. I sent in one email to fightthesmears and also entered ALL the email addresses that were included in the email into fightthesmears, democrats.com and barackobama.com. Now ALL her republican friends that forwarded the email previously get daily emails on the best candidate out there, Obama. I then replied to all the email addresses on there and let them know what the truth was about the specific smear and that they are responsible as Americans to discover the truth, and to not let Karl Rove do to Barack Obama what he had also done to John McCain in 2000. One smart alecky republican replied to all "what we arent allowed to make fun of the messiah??" I replied back that in our state "Forwarding along incorrect smears and lies won't help you in this state since Obama is up 15 points, it's over for Mccain here, bye."


I got an email from that Mother telling me to please not send emails to her friends *snicker*

to my knowledge my wife hasnt gotten any more emails from her.

[DevonRex]

64. Heh heh. At the least you won't get the disgusting emails again.

At best, you will have made a difference to somebody out there. It is ALL good and I love it.

[TankLV]

72. I would get the same "please don't send email to "my friends"...

and I would say that 1) any friends of MINE would not be sending out CRAP, and 2) if you don't like getting the TRUTH from me, don't send the crap out...

they always then try to be so "sweet" and "nice" and "I don't know why you're so "angry", etc,...

I haven't gotten these emails in a LONG time...

[MsLeopard]

65. Thank you!

I just sent them an annoying email my in-laws are sending around. I had deleted it, but when I saw this I found it in the trash and forwarded it to them. I can't wait to send the response around.

[PatrynXX]

67. The odd thing

With McCain being tortured... I've often worried about McCain being a Manchurian candidate.

Especially with a wife blaming PTSD on lack of training. Hey McCain seems to have PTSD!!!


(and no === I don't believe the story about McCain not being tortured. Trusting the bad guys is the last thing I'd do.)

[wryter2000]

68. Wow

I tried figuring out the Kerry debunker once and got absolutely nowhere.

Now, I kind of wish I hadn't told my freeper ex-friend to lose my e-mail address. I'd like to use this on him. :evilgrin:

[complain jane]

69. Thanks for posting this, I never would have thought to do that. n/t

[morillon]

71. Sometimes, Reply to All is a beautiful thing.

I got a fucked up, racist email from the owner of our cleaning service about a month ago, and if she had been dumb enough to CC everyone instead of BCC, I would've had a blast sending my reply to her entire client list, let me tell you. As it was, I had to be content with just telling HER how many shades of wrong her email was.