First it was Botox. Then it was Jane Fonda. Then Drudge seemed to score big when he “broke” the story about Kerry and an “intern.” He claimed it started when Wesley Clark told a dozen reporters off the record that Kerry would implode over an intern, and three of those reporters–never named, never confirmed–told Drudge they absolutely confirmed it was true. Then he claimed that several big news outfits were “investigating” it (what, they heard about it and found it was baseless?), and reported it as if it were then well-established fact–and millions of conservatives across the nation accepted it as such.

But the really telling thing was that everything hinged on Drudge. The Clark story, the news outfits reporting on it, the entire story, in fact, every last detail, came directly from Drudge. No evidence, no corroboration. It sounded like maybe there was something when the girl’s parents called Kerry a sleazeball, even though they denied the affair in the same breath.

And guess what?

You got it. It’s all fake. To the last drop. Kerry denied it. The woman’s parents denied it. Now the woman, Alex Polier, denies it.. Drudge’s story that she “fled” to Africa seem false as well; she apparently now lives in Africa, with her fiance. Clark endorsed Kerry, making it fairly certain the reports of his statement were false. The woman’s parents now even say they’ll be voting for Kerry, and when you note the “sleazeball” quote was only sourced by “The Sun,” a British tabloid reeking of sleaze itself, you begin to wonder if even that quote wasn’t manufactured. And still not a shred of evidence.

And golly if conservatives aren’t still running with the story! (That includes nearly all the conservatives on the forums I frequent.) And Drudge himself has moved on to even more bizarre sleaze, now claiming that Polier had an affair with Kerry Finance Director Peter Maroney. Oh, those goofy right-wingers.

But hang in there folks. So Drudge has struck out, and there’s one down on the Right-wing line-up. But this is just the first out of the first inning. We got nine more months of this to go. To buckle up, and make sure you’re wearing your foulies–the mud and sleaze will be thick and heavy from Right field in this game.