As so many sources have pointed out over the past four days, the McNasty/You Betcha campaign rallies have turned into orgies of fear and hatred, stoked by slimy, "dog whistle" statements by the two candidates. Videotape has been playing endlessly of McNasty and You Betcha hearing calls from the audience of "kill him" and "terrorist" when they mention Sen. Obama. Yesterday in Wisconsin, a nutbag in the audience said he was "angry" and proceeded to rage against what he said was America's drift toward "socialism." On another appearance in the state, when McNasty mentioned that he wanted Democrats and Republicans to work together, the crowd was silent.
With McNasty running as much as 11 points behind in the daily Gallup tracking polls, their strategy has been clear ever since the economy took a nose dive: it's a loser for them to talk about the economy, so talk about "character" - - i.e., smear Sen. Obama. Egged on by a rabid core of right wing e-mailers and bloggers, and the vile hate radio dominated by the likes of Rush Limpballs, Heil Hannity, and Michael "Wiener" Savage, the low information voter wants McNasty to "take the gloves off." The extreme irony is that these same low information voters are the ones paying the highest price for eight years of Rethug rule, from their stagnant incomes, and lost retirement funds, to their family members sent to patrol the streets of Baghdad while bin Laden remains free. Some will eventually learn the hard way, and some will never learn. "Morans."
