I think this is the real message:
"A major party nominee for statewide office can count on party loyalists _ conservative Republicans or liberal Democrats _ for, at most, around 40 percent of the general election vote. Even if a nominee consolidates that base, he or she still must attract at least half of the independent voters to win. "
CALIFORNIA VOTER AND PARTY PROFILES
http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/JTF_VoterProfilesJTF.pdf
"The Democratic Party currently has an advantage of 1.4 million voters over the Republican Party (7.1 million to 5.7 million) or 9 percentage points (43% to 34%), according to the Secretary of State.
Among those most likely to vote in this year’s elections, Democrats outnumber Republicans by a 7-point margin (44% to 37%), while 15 percent of likely voters are registered as independents.
... the fact that independents are more likely to lean toward Democrats than Republicans (42% to 28%) tends to work to the disadvantage of the GOP in statewide elections."
There are yellow dog Democrats who cannot vote for anything other than a Democrat, let they upset Granpappy's ghost.
And then there are people who are deathly afraid of casting a ballot for a Republican; who wants major figures in the media to brand you a "nazi"?
That is the public image hurdle that must be challenged. Like revealing the communist and hard core socialist ties of Democrats and "grass roots" organizations.
It isn't a smear because it isn't a lie. Reveal that commies have been lying about their intentions all along and it is easier to convince people that they have been lying about the opposition party and their supporters for decades.
Rathergate was just scratching the surface of the political smears. Much of what people think they know is false.