Character assassination is a liberal political tactic in which a political opponent's judgement or qualifications are attacked by untrue or irrelevant accusations. Prime examples in recent years have been the attacks on Senator John McCain, President George W. Bush and Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas.
Civil rights writer Laird Wilcox has called this practice ritual defamation, and notes that it is practiced by such leftist groups as the Southern Poverty Law Center, Political Research Associates, and the Center for Democratic Renewal to demonize political conservatives (and even some moderates and liberals).
Jeffrey T. Kuhner of The Washington Times wrote that Michael Savage "has been falsely painted as an Islamophobic bigot who risks inciting violence and “intercommunal” tension."