Tactics

Those of us who became aware of Karl Rove during his days as the campaign manager for George W. Bush when he ran against our dearly beloved Ann Richards are well aware of this tactic. It is one which he (Rove) perfected and for which he is, quite deservedly, notorious. Who could forget this notable incident (from his Wikipedia page):

In 1986, just before a crucial debate in campaign, Rove claimed that his office had been bugged by Democrats. The police and FBI investigated and discovered that the bug's battery was so small that it needed to be changed every few hours, and the investigation was dropped.[19] Critics, including other Republican operatives, suspected Rove had bugged his own office to garner sympathy votes in the close governor's race.[20]

Yeah. Sound familiar?