The new October surprise (update)

Supposedly, Gloria Allred has a game-changing October Surprise ready to go.

Ms Allred has refused to comment on the rumours, which first surfaced in a tweet by the Drudge Report's Matt Drudge on Thursday.

'Here she comes. Hearing Gloria Allred out there again, about to make a move. After all, it's her time of the campaign. Team O at the ready!!' Mr Drudge wrote on Twitter.

According to RadarOnline.com, Ms Allred launched a last minute strike on GOP Meg Whitman's campaign for governor of California by representing a disgruntled former housekeeper.

In the pivotal moments of the campaign, the lawyer wheeled out Nicky Diaz who alleged that she was fired by the Whitman family because she was an illegal immigrant.
Whitman went on to lose the election to Democrat Jerry Brown.

Personally, I think Whitman would have lost to Brown anyways. Nevertheless, the right is going absolutely batshit insane at this news. This is good. Instapundit, for example, writes:

If I were Romney, I’d have lawyers quietly informing outlets that false stories before the election will be met with libel suits — and expensive, embarrassing discovery — after the election. Whether I win or lose, guys, you’ll have my lawyers trolling through your emails for years. And we both know there’s a lot of stuff there you don’t want anyone to see.

What an absurd, cheap threat. Gloria Allred knows the law as well as anyone, and I don't think she would ever commit libel. Any "win or lose" threat of that sort is itself illegal. Here's a collection of further reaction:

The Red Side of Life, Conservative Musings from New York says on their website, "Gloria Allred Prepares Anti-Mitt Strike. You Can STOP Her Now! (action!) Don't underestimate Gloria Allred's ability to inflict damage. The media will 'eat up' anything she feeds them and turn it into an endless scandal. Recall she took down Cain and RINO Whitman with NO EVIDENCE. We're doing too well to risk 'an Allred.' She can be stopped, but it will take action on our behalf."

The blog asks supporters to "please make these two calls. We will only get their attention if we bombard them. If you get VM, leave a message," to the Republican National Committee and Mitt Romney's national presidential campaign headquarters.

The media will not "eat up" anything Allred hands them if it is valueless. And rallying the troops is pointless. She either has something or she doesn't.

The only clue, so far, can be gleaned from her response:

Allred, an outspoken supporter of President Barack Obama refused to confirm, or deny, Drudge's prediction, telling RadarOnline.com: "I have no comment at this time about Mr. Drudge's Tweet. I don't discuss meetings with potential clients."

Obviously, her sources is someone who thinks she -- Allred's clients are usually female -- has an actionable complaint against Romney. This is not to say that I've always agreed with Allred, or that every case she has championed has turned out to be a winner. At one point, she tried to mount a case against Sacha Baron Cohen for committing "fraud" while filming Borat. Cohen was, I think, guilty of several offenses against good taste, but that's a very different matter.

Republicans should note that her cases are not always partisan. For example, she represented porn actress Ginger Lee who said that she was coached by Anthony Weiner.

Why did Drudge presume that Allred had something on Team Romney? Maybe she's targeting a Dem. I've been hinting for four years that...

Update: I'm going to offer a wild (and, I hope, wrong) prediction that Allred's surprise actually targets a Democrat. I didn't say which one.