TASK FORCE - GUN FOR HIRE

The operative who invented Swift Boating could put Trump on course for reelection.

- STEPHANIE MENCIMER

WHEN HE RAN for president in 2004, Democrats were counting on John Kerry’s military service to define him as a strong leader in a time of war. The decorated Vietnam veteran headed into the party’s convention with a small lead over President George W. Bush, who had dodged serving by enlisting in Texas’ Air National Guard. But just a week after Democrats officially nominated Kerry, he was attacked with a brutal and deceptive series of ads from an unexpected quarter: veterans who, like him, had served on swift boats in Vietnam.

Kerry’s lead evaporated, and the campaign never recovered, as “Swift Boating” entered the lexicon as shorthand for a dishonest political smear. The man largely responsible for the ads was a Virginia consultant named Chris LaCivita. He’s now co–campaign manager for Donald Trump, who, in March, also had him installed as the Republican National Committee’s chief operating officer.

If history is any guide, LaCivita’s command of Trumpworld should make Democrats very, very worried. “Chris is one of the most effective campaign operatives I have ever known,” says his friend Mo Elleithee, a former Democratic strategist who now works at Georgetown University. “He is a brassknuckle brawler who understands what moves voters…He pulls no punches.”

When Trump first announced a presidential run in 2015, the reality TV star’s campaign was a disorganized mess, run by a revolving cast of characters. (Remember Corey Lewandowski?) Several would be convicted for crimes related to the special counsel’s investigation into the campaign’s links to Russia.