Just as I expected - baseless charges by the guy who must think every dirty trick in politics was personally orchestrated by the main opp. candidate as opposed to any of the countless others equally as interested in derailing someone's candidacy. I've told this story here before, but when I voted in the VA primary in 2000, half the people waiting in line were Dems there to vote for McCain just to hurt Bush. When the poll workers announced we all had to sign an agreement to vote in only one primary, half the folks waiting in line left and went home. Who do you suppose arranged that?

There's some evidence that the most recent push-poll against Romney was orchestrated by... Romney. So the linking of opponents to dirty tricks is not always obvious.

Still, the McCain "black baby" push poll is generally considered to be a Karl Rove triumph.

For no other reason than "it just had to be."

I really have to wonder about the likelihood of someone making it to the polls who's so stupid as to fall for the McCain black baby thing, let alone to change their primary vote because of it. Primary voters tend to be pretty well informed and active in their party politics. The huge unwashed masses are the ones more likely to be susceptible to dirty tricks, but way, way too apathetic to vote in primaries. Don't forget that a lot of primary voters aren't voting for whom they want, but rather who would make a weaker opponent for whom they really want. My mom wants to vote in the Dem. primary this year, just to hurt Hillary, not because she'd ever even think of voting for Obama or Edwards.