Leave No Shot Unanswered?

Question

i need to write a paragraph about that maxim and ive used the book Hardball by Chris Matthews but I'm getting desperate i need to write a long paragraph and I'm having a hard time with this maxim. i understand the basis i just need help with adding more detail please please please help.

Answer 1

Matthews means that a politician should always respond very quickly to an attack by their opponent, and they should always respond in kind. Failure to do this can cost a politician an election. For example, in 2004, the Democratic candidate for President, John Kerry, was attacked by a group of Republicans ("Swiftboat Veterans for the Truth") who claimed that Kerry did not deserve his war medals, that he was a coward and even a traitor. Kerry felt  that if he rebutted these charges he would be giving the liars some credibility and more attention than they deserved, so he did not respond. Kerry's approach was totally wrong, and many people came to believe the lies. Matthews says that the best response is to say straight out that the opponent is lying, and then to make the exact same charges against the opponent in a reverse the attack. Kerry should have denigrated Bush's service record right away, and he actually had a lot of ammunition to do so. Unlike Kerry who volunteered for active duty in a combat zone, Bush had avoided active duty, and had even gone absent without leave from the National Guard. Bush called Kerry a coward, Kerry should have shot back saying Bush was a deserter. Instead of firing back immediately, Kerry was shot down, and he should not have been. Thus, according to Matthews, the power struggle in politics is nothing more than a gun battle.