Posted on 10/21/2008 10:46:10 AM PDT by engrpat
WASHINGTON — An ugly line has been crossed in this presidential campaign, one in which some people don’t mind calling Barack Obama a dangerous Muslim, a terrorist and worse.
"To me, this all feels much worse than we’ve seen in some time," said Kathryn Kolbert, the president of People for the American Way, which monitors political speech.
Experts agree on the reasons: Obama, the Democratic nominee, is different from any other major presidential candidate in history in many ways, and people often don’t accept such change gracefully.
That different background fuels many fears, said Penni Pier, an expert on political rhetoric. People are still scared that terrorists are ready to strike and wonder about Obama’s background, she said, while the Internet and other outlets are endless sources of misinformation.
Some think that GOP strategists are, as Kolbert put it, "orchestrating" the vitriol.
(Excerpt) Read more at star-telegram.com ...
There is an added dimension to this election and it is far different from anything I have ever seen. Of course both sides are always going to complain that the other is being negative or has gone over the top.
This dimension is one that I am seeing in the grass roots. I do not know how to describe it other than a “dimension of fear”.
In previous elections there were always Dole and Bush signs everywhere in this community. I am yet to see the first McCain sign in a yard here in a city that McCain will easily win. I see Obama signs on every street but never a McCain sign. I only ever see a Sign supporting McCain when I venture out into more rural areas and I see these homemade McCain signs. I can come to no other conclusion or explain this in any other way than that people are afraid. They are either afraid of being called racists or afraid of violence or vandalism. I have not heard one other person in this city mention this phenomenon. It can’t be that I am the only one that has noticed. Whatever it is, it is, indeed, strange.
Sarah Palin is a C***
Google it. The pictures are all over the 'Net.
"I need you to go out and talk to your friends and talk to your neighbors. I want you to talk to them whether they are independent or whether they are Republican. I want you to argue with them and get in their face!"
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