It was unveiled in New Hampshire, in late January, when — after months on the receiving end of Gore's attacks on the substance of his proposals — Bill Bradley, belatedly, struck back, complaining in a debate that Gore was twisting his ideas and that, indeed, the Vice-President had a history of stretching the truth a bit.
As a pediatrician, I was baffled by scientifically baseless attacks on the substances that have tamed smallpox, polio and a host of other deadly and disfiguring diseases, at least in the developed world.
The most unforgiving attack on the notion of substance is contained in Joseph Petzoldt's book Das Weltproblem (1906).
His efforts to write off Mr. Johnson as a lightweight buffoon failed to pay off, and by the time he began attacking his opponent on the substance of issues like the cost of the Tories' transportation program, it was too late.
The candidate who was scolded for negative campaigning by Gov. Mario M. Cuomo in 1988 has learned the subtle form of the acceptable if devastating political attack ("He's negative on the substance," Mr. Cuomo said approvingly the other day).
By staying on the attack and not engaging Mr. Obama on the substance of issues like terrorism, the economy and how to organize an orderly exit from Iraq, Mrs. Clinton does more than just turn off voters who don't like negative campaigning.
Other than that absurd accusation, there is no substance to either attack on the mayor.
"This is another high-tech lynching," Ms. Coulter asserted, shifting the focus from the substance of the accusations to an attack on the news media and "liberals".
"You can disagree with him on the substance," she said, "but the notion of personally attacking this man's integrity or commitment to the fight I find outrageous".
