Rope-a-dope politics.

Prof. Ribstein--who links to me strictly for my interest in memes--comments on the meme "rope-a-dope" in connection with the current election squabbling over Vietnam Era matters. Arguably, either Kerry or Bush could be characterized as playing "rope-a-dope" and intentionally exhausting the opponent by luring him into wasting his energy fighting back with blows that don't cause any harm. But I think most commentary suggesting that one candidate or another is playing rope-a-dope is a characterization after the fact--like saying "I meant to do that" after you trip over something. I'd say if the meme catches on in this election season, it will be because somebody needs an excuse for fighting so poorly.