ANOTHER REASON ALL AMERICANS SHOULD WORK ON A CAMPAIGN:

No matter how Trump Jr. thinks political researchers spend their days, opposition research is not a dark art. (I'm not sure I'd even consider it any kind of art.) Done well, it's a thoughtful, directed process of compiling known facts and figures about relevant life and career elements of an opponent to bolster an argument.

But even when done badly, opposition research still has nothing to do with what Trump Jr. did. There are lines that trained and talented political operatives wouldn't cross. The emails Trump Jr. released Tuesday show he has no idea where they are.

When I joined the Democratic National Committee for the 2004 presidential election, I thought I could approach opposition research through the lens of the scientific method, as I'd studied in the field of sociology. I was there to answer the question, "Why should George W. Bush be defeated?" From there, I would formulate hypotheses and seek evidence from the litany of things he had said and done.

That litany came mostly from mundane sources such as Nexis or C-Span. Diligently, the research team would compile and cite every piece of data. Then data could be packaged in any number of ways: by year, by topic, by state, for an ad, for a fundraiser, for a speech, and yes, even to assist the media in their reporting.

I confess I quickly learned that the day-to-day reality of opposition research wasn't always quite that tidy. Here's why: When people are invested in your candidate, they want to participate. They have ideas, suggestions, "hot tips."

Phone calls to the main line of the campaign get routed . . . to research. Generically addressed letters and emails get routed . . . to research. Friends of friends of your second cousin's neighbor's mail carrier somehow get your mobile number. (I never saw a serial killer-style missive written with letters cut from a magazine, but some came close.)

However strange the source, everything was read, every voice mail listened to. Occasionally, a staffer might fall prey to a blocked number and be trapped listening to a long, fantastical story, offering only benign "mmhmm"s while colleagues offered sympathetic looks. You might even say researchers, however maligned, are unfailingly polite.

But in a normal campaign, that's where it stops.

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