Oppo File

16/04/2024

When Teddy Kennedy faced a tough challenge in his 1994 Senate campaign, his campaign consultant Bob Shrum recommended an unorthodox approach to oppo research.

In this week's Substack.

Terry Lenzner, 1939-2020

13/12/2023

A rather impressive oppo research dump on
Dean Preston from Grow SF:

30 Reasons to Dump Dean Preston. Together, we can defeat him in 2024.

13/12/2023

"New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has scheduled the special election for Tuesday, February 13. That gives Democrats enough time to do some basic opposition research..."

He's an improvement at least.

05/12/2023

The Representative George Santos vulnerability study gets a star turn on John Oliver Last Week Tonight with John Oliver:

John Oliver wants Andy Cohen to recruit expelled congressman George Santos for ‘Real Housewives.’

05/12/2023

"This is opposition research 101. Get your opponent on camera doing something that doesn't reflect well on them..."

A "macaca moment" (Google it) for Representative Brandon Williams.

A video of central New York Rep. Brandon Williams (R-Sennett) berating a former staffer at a Washington D.C. party last week has made local and national media news.

05/12/2023

Nikki Haley team responds to Oppo Research Super PAC Never Back Down with a few HRC-related clips:

01/12/2023

In this week's Oppo File Substack newsletter, I take a look at the Hunter Biden laptop fiasco. What does it tell us about Trump and oppo research?

What the Hunter Biden Laptop Fiasco Says About Trump and Oppo Research

17/11/2023

This week's Substack is out, with advice to Dem oppo researchers as they prepare for 2024.
Please share and subscribe. (All content is free.)

My Advice to Biden's Oppo Research Team

13/11/2023

"...if you’re a candidate looking to avoid becoming the next Ralph Northam, don’t ask what your opposition researcher has found. Ask yourself if you’ve paid your researcher enough to find everything you need."

Practitioners are wondering how Ralph Northam was able to get elected governor of Virginia despite appearing in a racist photograph published in a 1984 medical school yearbook. Given how competitive […]

13/11/2023

"Is Vivek Ramaswamy just insane? This is a serious question. At best, his opposition research staff needs to grow up."

- Kathleen Parker

Women voters are no doubt hearing Nikki Haley’s political message loud and clear.

09/11/2023

Oppo File host Joseph Rodota wrote about the last GOP debate for Politico. Read his take here:

I was an opposition researcher. Here's what her rivals should do if they want to start winning.

08/11/2023

MUST WATCH —

reacts to Nikki Haley lying to voters about her long record of recruiting CCP-owned companies to South Carolina as governor and giving them free land.

“She gave almost 300 acres of South Carolina land to a CCP-backed business that was five miles from a military base. In Florida, we did the opposite. I banned China from buying land in the state of Florida. I kicked them out of our universities so that they didn't have influence there.

“China is the biggest threat this country faces. I don't want to be inviting the CCP into the United States. I don't want them buying Iowa farmland. I don't want them setting up shop near military bases in any place throughout the United States.

“It's a difference between record and rhetoric. She's trying to go a different direction on her rhetoric with China. But her record is writing the Chinese ambassador love letters saying like how great a friend China is. No, they're not a friend. They are an adversary. We have a president right now that doesn't recognize that. I, as Commander-in-Chief, will.”

07/11/2023

An oppo dump from the Governor Ron DeSantis team:

07/11/2023

Representative George Santos tells CNN's Manu Raju he's "working on finishing the last pieces" of his family and personal history:

The serial liar Republican told CNN's Manu Raju that he's "working on finishing the last pieces" of documentation to prove his claim.

07/11/2023

Looks like oppo research is behind this story on
Congressman Adam Schiff, but there are no fingerprints:

For years, California Rep. Adam Schiff has claimed his primary residence is a home he owns in Maryland, while taking a homeowner’s tax exemption on a condo he owns in California.

07/11/2023

Job listings provide fodder for oppo researchers over at Daily Kos:

It's been a couple years since we found out about the Koch network's staffing NGO, Talent Market, so we thought we'd take a look at what the job market is like for people whose skillset is primarily being willing to say things that are wrong on purpose...

07/11/2023

Oppo dump on a New Jersey Senate candidate Micheline Attieh:

A school bus company owned by the Republican candidate for State Senate was fined $1,000 in 2017 after a kindergarten student was left sleeping on a bus.

07/11/2023

North Carolina Democrats "have a thick binder of opposition research on Mark Robinson."

via Hickory Daily Record | hickoryrecord.com

Most North Carolina Democrats agree with that conventional wisdom — and find it delightful. They have a thick binder of opposition research on Mark Robinson. They’re looking forward to playing

06/11/2023

Mike Johnson's 20-year paper trail is an opposition researcher's dream:

Johnson is one of the most socially conservative speakers in modern memory.

06/11/2023

"A man dressed in black who works for a group specializing in opposition research about Democrats was stopped while climbing a bluff near Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s summer residence in August..."

America Rising

Police say a man dressed in black who works for a group that conducts opposition research on Democrats was stopped while climbing a bluff near the Michigan governor's summer home.

06/11/2023

“There was just no interest when we pitched it,” the strategist said. “And the third thing was the financial disclosures were a mess and didn’t make sense. But there was not much interest.” - Representative George Santos

A combination of inaction and inattention allowed the newly elected Republican lawmaker to win office despite having apparently fabricated wide swaths of his biography.

06/11/2023

"While Congressman Tom Emmer privately worked the phones Friday night, Trump’s goons were already circulating opposition research."

Compromise is for RINOs.

06/11/2023

"There’s a 200-page opposition research book from October 2022 that is being recirculated about Congressman Tom Emmer, much of it critiquing his policy positions ranging from same-sex marriage to Cuba, according to two people who have seen the book."

06/11/2023

Flashback: "Opposition research, shared with CNN from multiple campaigns, was extensive on areas where Chris Christie allegedly took positions that broke with Republican orthodoxy."

Governor Chris Christie could not get past both his own personal baggage or sell his experience to a Republican base looking for new blood

06/11/2023

More oppo on Nikki Haley from pro-DeSantis SuperPAC Never Back Down:

https://twitter.com/NvrBackDown24/status/1716185026046341394

06/11/2023

Nikki Haley spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas replied, “Desperate campaigns do desperate things."

DeSantis-Haley feud escalates with dueling attack ads https://politi.co/46Wq6tv via POLITICO

The super PAC supporting Ron DeSantis is going up with a new web ad portraying Nikki Haley as a flip-flopper.

06/11/2023

"Nikki Haley has a history of weakly flip-flopping on critical issues and so far, she has never had to defend her actions." - Never Back Down

DeSantis-Haley feud escalates with dueling attack ads https://politi.co/46Wq6tv via POLITICO

The super PAC supporting Ron DeSantis is going up with a new web ad portraying Nikki Haley as a flip-flopper.

06/11/2023

🚨 SFA Fund, Inc. releases a new ad, titled "Warned."
https://twitter.com/SFAINC2024/status/1715395240528409045

06/11/2023

Perhaps the greatest oppo research fail of all time: the Ralph Northam yearbook photo (Part 1).

Eastern Virginia Medical School

Ralph Northam's Yearbook, Part 1

27/10/2023

DeSantis SuperPAC Never Back Down releases new ad with Nikki Haley video: