'Tracker' or Attacker? 84-Year-Old Smacker...

Matt Lewis | October 30, 2008 10:17 AM

Based on the 'Macaca' incident from last cycle, this story is very interesting to me. Essentially, George Allen's campaign was brought down by a tracker who captured his comments on tape. But what happens when a desperate campaign leads to trackers going too far in trying to trap -- or intimidate -- a candidate?

In this instance, Not Larry Sabato -- a top left-leaning political blog in Virginia -- is defending Republican Frank Wolf's campaign -- and criticizing the 'tracker'. Here's the story:

"As I am watching this video, I see a staffer following around yelling questions at Frank Wolf (most professional trackers videotape only and don't yell out questions trying to provoke the opposing candidate). Then I see the staffer try to follow Wolf out the door, the camera gets VERY close to Wolf's wife a few inches from her head in fact. Then the cameraman gets smacked by an 84 year old staffer nearby.

Good for the smacker. Trackers are not there to stalk. Trackers are not there to follow people around and yell questions at them. And a 20 something staffer should not be getting that close to an elderly woman just to get a camera shot.

Charges should be filed, and they ought to be against the obnoxious tracker. It's too bad this is the best the Judy Feder campaign has to offer in the final week. "