Engendering Hate

I've been around for quite a few years, and I've been a "political junkie" for as long as I can remember. (I even argued politics--Adlai vs. Ike--in high school political science class.) But I can't remember a time when so many smears were launched from political campaigns, and so many potential voters evidenced hate and intolerance. Admitting to my own possible bias, the worst of it seems to be coming from John McCain's camp. To give him credit, he has tried to tone down some of the worst of it: taking the mike from the woman who called Obama an Arab and telling her that Obama was a "fine and decent man." But he hasn't stopped the hate-mongering coming from Sarah Palin at her rallies, nor has he repudiated any of the chants coming from the crowds that attend his and Palin's rallies. I think we will all be glad when this campaign is over, and I hope that the controversy raised during the campaign season (which has gone on forever this election) will fade away and not persist to color and sour the next president's term of office--which promises to be a tough row to hoe regardless of which candidate wins.