What Does “swift-boating” Mean?

The phrase has come into popular use in America. To swift-boat means to damage the reputation of someone with a barrage of propaganda so devastatingly effective that the actual truth of the issue at stake becomes irrelevant.

The phrase derives from an episode in the 2004 presidential election in which Democratic senator John Kerry ran against incumbent Republican president George W. Bush. Kerry had served in the Vietnam war as commander of a swift boat, which was the name given to a type of plastic boat manned by a small crew which was used for raids and patrol duties in certain parts of Vietnam.

In the course of his service in the war, Kerry was decorated. George W. Bush had avoided service in the Vietnam war by joining the National Guard, the U.S. military reserve force. With the wartime climate engendered by the war in Iraq, the democrats expected Kerry's military background to impress the electorate, especially when compared with George W. Bush's avoidance of service in the war. In fact, however, Bush sympathisers, particularly a specially created group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, were able to confuse the electorate with propaganda claiming that Kerry had exaggerated his record of service and was not entitled to the medals he claimed.

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