[streetpreacher]

unless you think the US will degenerate into parties shooting candidates of other parties when they can't beat them.

Just as an aside, this did happen in Tennessee, I think in 98, for a statewide office. An (R) killed a (D). At the time I joked with my liberal Dem supervisor, "I'm for any tactic that gets a Republican elected." Very tasteless.

[BohDaThone]

Not a statewide office -- a local state rep race. The incumbent dem was killed by "Low tax" Looper [his real last name, and he had changed his first name for ballot purposes], the county tax commissioner. It happenend about 4 days before the elctions. The widow got 98% of the vote as a write-in!!