The New American Politics - Opposition Research

Opposition research, a basic but usually concealed chore of political campaigns, seems to be more extensive and more open during the current presidential race mainly because of the large size of the Democratic field and the absence of a clear front-runner.
The extent of the Republican committee's research operation has been evident in the campaign. When each of the nine Democratic candidates filed papers to run for president, Dyke's office sent out an e-mail -- prepared largely by the research staff -- that questioned their record.