Slow political news summer down in North Carolina.  Breathless reporting about mud slinging and political campaigns – really. From The Herald:

Digging up dirt on the opponent has become standard operating procedure for major political campaigns in America.

In fact, it’s an entire discipline within the operation of political campaigns. It has its own name — opposition research, or “oppo.”

Some campaign workers spend their entire careers doing nothing but opposition research, compiling books of the stuff on political opponents. Joe Sinsheimer, the fellow who formed the jimblackmustgo.com Web site and doggedly pursued the now-imprisoned former House speaker, was an opposition researcher. So too was the late Lee Atwater, the notorious campaign aide for George H.W. Bush.

And nearly 25 years ago, the Republican National Committee created The Opposition Research Group as a separate division within the party.

The information gleaned from these efforts becomes the basis for the negative, mudslinging ads that we see leading up to elections.

Much of the stuff is never used because it is based on rumors and speculation. But whatever skeletons the major-office candidates stick in whatever closets or trunks, the opposition is often well aware of them.

When the campaign for the Democratic nomination for governor began last summer, political insiders speculated that Richard Moore would use two episodes in the life of rival Beverly Perdue against her — an oddly-resolved car accident and an illegal contribution from a rest home mogul. He did.

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