Politics of personal destruction, again

Before the Massachusetts special election, Democrats had apparently convinced themselves that the tea party movement was meaningless astroturf.  With the arrival in Washington of Sen. Brown (R-KennedyLand), the Democrats are changing their approach.  BigGovernment reports that some Democrats are planning a counter-attack against the tea party movement using smear campaigns and extortion:

Big Government has learned that Clintonistas are plotting a “push/pull” strategy. They plan to identify 7-8 national figures active in the tea party movement and engage in deep opposition research on them. If possible, they will identify one or two they can perhaps ‘turn’, either with money or threats, to create a mole in the movement. The others will be subjected to a full-on smear campaign. (Has MSNBC already been notified?)

Big Government has also learned that James Carville will head up the effort.

Obviously, there is no love lost between Obama and the Clinton machine. It may at first seem odd that Clinton would rush to Obama’s defense, but the tea party movement poses a threat far beyond the immediate goals of the Obama Administration.

Saul Alinsky would be proud of his students.

Glenn Reynolds is optimistic:

I don’t think the politics of personal destruction will work on a movement that doesn’t have major leaders.... [I]f they go through with this I’m pretty sure it’ll backfire big-time.

On the other hand, smear campaigns are one thing that Democrats are good at.  Just look at the rise in the negatives in Gov. Palin's poll numbers.  Remember the baseless smears against Joe the Plumber?  But then again, the smear campaigns against John McCain (birth issue, supposed affair with lobbyist) seemed ineffective while CBS's attempted smear against Geo. Bush (the supposed Texas Air National Guard memos) did backfire.

PREVIOUSLY on the subject of lefty smear campaigns:
Media fall for the Africa/country hoax about Gov. Palin
The NYT campaign against John McCain
T. Boone Pickens fights back against smear campaign against Swift Boat Veterans
Univision smears Guiliani
AP smears climate scientist for disagreeing with Al Gore / Left falls for photoshop smear
The left blames the Jews
Reporter explains that it is OK to smear if it fits the narrative
Sentence first, trial later
The cost of defending against false charges
Convicted for being in the wrong identity group
Yet another hate crime hoax
Reporter honor roll: those who didn't fall for the charges against the Duke Lacrosse players
How to know what smears to expect