Borking is the term used in reference to the attacking of a political candidate through misrepresentation in the media. It is derived from the name of Robert Bork.
The Washington Post (7/11/05) reported the Bork history this way: "When President Ronald Reagan nominated Bork, liberals mounted a well-organized, well-financed campaign against him, and conservatives were slow and ineffective in responding." [2]
... all this started in 1987 when Sen. Kennedy raced to the Senate floor to bellow that "Robert Bork's America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens' doors in midnight raids, children could not be taught about evolution." [3]