The Nation has a great article that attacks the false equivilence of the attacks on

[karynnj]

Romney's Bain actions and the SBVT.

As one who has often wanted to never read the Nation again, I am surprised that they are 100% on target here. Having listened to Chuck Todd, who I have really grown to dislike, speak of how the attacks meant that Kerry could not speak of his actions in Vietnam, which were why he was the candidate, because he would have had to address the SBVT. URGGGGG!! - wrong on EVERY account and nothing said about them being liars - or the fact that I have really never seen any video where Kerry told tales of his heroics. I do remember him looking chocked up when asked if he thought about the Vietnam years when he visited the areas he served in Vietnam. His answer was the need to concentrate on doing the job he was doing, but there was a moment where his face briefly showed emotion as he said something like "Well, yes". Not to mention, it was an excellent Senate resume that showed in the debates that he was running on.

Anyway, here is there concluding paragraphs:

Moreover, Romney has left himself open to attacks on this front by consistently exaggerating his business record, first claiming he created 10,000 jobs at Bain while running against Ted Kennedy in 1994 and now alleging he created 100,000 net jobs at the company during his tenure, which fact-checkers at the Washington Post, the New York Times and AP have debunked. The person guiltiest of distorting Romney’s record is Romney himself

The Swift Boat campaign against Kerry was far more odious than the Bain-related critique of Romney. Let’s remember that the Swift Boat vets said that John Kerry did not earn his Silver Star, Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts, had made "phony war crimes charges…exaggerated claims about his own service in Vietnam…and deliberate misrepresentations of the nature and effectiveness of Swift boat operations”—all of which was completely untrue. As the LA Times wrote, “These charges against John Kerry are false."

In 2004, much of the media failed to clearly denounce the Swift Boat ads. Today, the danger is that they’ll draw a false equivalence between the outrageous attacks on Kerry’s service and legitimate questions about Romney’s business career.

http://www.thenation.com/blog/165546/critiquing-romneys-bain-record-not-swift-boating

It has been interesting that every Republican attacked since 2004 has tried to get it called "swiftboating", but nothing like swiftboating has happened since. I like that they note that the media condoned them. I think that actually may be what made them worse than anything that preceded them. Giving the liars time - long after they were shown to be liars, gave them credibility they otherwise never would have gained. It also made it hard to see how he could have "fought back" more than he did. It was not the ads, as much as the media repeating them that gave them credence. Had Kerry used lots of his scarce money, I think all he did would just be seen as ads and added to the he said, they said narrative.