Printable page
Email a friendHitman tale misses mark
FIRST things first. These are not the memories of an actual killer. Although it is clear that what Stephen Marks and his ilk do can be as effective to someone's reputation.
Marks is what is known in the US an opposition researcher, or "oppo man" as he tediously calls himself.
Put simply, his job was to dig the dirt on whoever was opposing his Republican paymasters. Normally, this was the Democrats. However, he sometimes found himself employed by Republicans candidates to dig for dirt on their Republicans rivals.
The dirt on Democrats tended to revolve around being soft on law and order. For Republicans, it was often suspect property deals or soft loans from financial backers.
The Freedom of Information Act means that much of the information is freely available if you know where to look.
Marks justifies his actions by saying that the voters need all the available information, "the good, the bad and the ugly," in order to make an informed decision. Except that the information that his profession digs up is more often used to smear rather than inform.
The book suffers hugely as Marks, who is a huge Rudy Giuliani fan, just can't keep his partisan views under control when writing.
There is clearly a fascinating book to be written about this niche of political chicanery, but, sadly, this is a long way from being it.
RICHARD HILTON