Negative Politics

Next Tuesday's election day, so by Wednesday our televisions will finally be free of the vicious attack ads that have polluted the airwaves since the campaign season began. Maybe its because the race is so close. But seldom if ever has politics been as low down and dirty as this time around.

Here's how ex-president Clinton summarized the GOP attack ads.
"If you elect the Democrats they'll tax you into the poor house, and on the way, you'll meet a terrorist on every corner, and when you try to run away, you'll stumble over an illegal immigrant."

And the former president wasn't exaggerating. In Ohio, where a sorry record of corruption threatens Republican control of that pivotal state, an ad for GOP Congressman Steve Chalbot accuses his opponent of wanting to Taser 7-year old girls with 50,000 volts of electricity.

What the Democrat had really argued was that it was more humane to Taser a weapon-wielding delinquent than to shoot them dead.
In Upstate New York, an ad paid for by the same shameless Republican National Committee that brought Tennessee the white chick slut attack on Harold Ford accuses Democrat Michael Acuri of charging taxpayers for phone sex.

In fact, Acuri did call a sex line during a business trip, but hung up immediately to call the number he obviously intended, the state's Department of Criminal Justice, which has the identical number, except for one digit in the area code.

Perhaps the worst of the bunch comes from the Wisconsin campaign of Republican Paul Nelson, which accuses Democrat Ron Kind of 'paying for sex not soldiers', and studies 'of Asian prostitutes instead of body armor', apparently because Kind once voted to fund the National Institute of Health.

Led by the president, Republicans are trying hard to make jerky John Kerry's botched joke about education and GI's in Iraq pay off at the ballot box.
"The Senator's suggestion that the men and women of our military are somehow uneducated is insulting and it is shameful."

But after three days of beating it to death, the Dems hope the issue's running out of steam.

"The election is not about Senator Kerry," said DNC Chair Howard Dean. "The election is about failures of Republicans. I can't imagine the people who want a new direction are gonna be sidetracked by this issue."

Whatever the impact of Kerry's comment...or even Senator George Allen's now infamous, racist 'macaca' remark...both pale in comparison to what Republican State Representative Ralph Arza allegedly said about Miami Dade's black school superintendent Rudy Crew.

Aside from twice using the 'n' word, Arza also called one of his own colleagues, Congressman Gus Barreiro a 'bitch' for instigating the investigation of his conduct.
Arza resigned and surrendered to cops this morning, after being charged with witness tampering.

Our voter turnout was only 55% in the last presidential elections, which was lower than in, say, Iraq, where voters have obvious excuses for not having the courage to march to the polling places to cast their ballots.

Don't let the dopey comments or dumb and dumber attack ads discourage you from voting. That only encourages the bastards.