WHEN HE RAN for president in 2004, Democrats were counting on John Kerry’s military service to define him as a strong leader in a time of war. The decorated Vietnam veteran headed into the party’s convention with a small lead over President George W. Bush, who had dodged serving by enlisting in Texas’ Air National Guard. But just a week after Democrats officially nominated Kerry, he was attacked with a brutal and deceptive series of ads from an unexpected quarter: veterans who, like him, had served on swift boats in Vietnam.
Kerry’s lead evaporated, and the campaign never recovered, as “Swift Boating” entered the lexicon as shorthand for a dishonest political smear. The man largely responsible for the ads was a Virginia consultant named Chris LaCivita. He’s now co–campaign manager for Donald Trump, who, in March, also had him installed as the Republican National Committee’s chief operating officer.
If history is any guide, LaCivita’s command of Trumpworld should make Democrats very, very worried. “Chris is one of the most effective campaign operatives I have ever known,” says his friend
