Crossing the Line / A Republican Breath of Fresh Air

We've seen some of the ugliest sides of America this week from Republican rallies, including incidents where supporters of McCain-Palin called Obama a terrorist and yelled out "kill him!"

Here's an article from ABC reporting on these rallies.

Today, as reported here from the Wall Street Journal, McCain finally took a stand against these horrific outbursts from the Republican base and yet aired a new ad linking Obama to Bill Ayers, who Palin referred to as a terrorist earlier at one of these rallies. Personally, I think it's time for the McCain campaign to draw the line cleanly with both his words and his actions if he is truly trying to reform the Republican party. He cannot tell his supporters "I have to tell you [Obama] is a decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared (of) as president of the United States" and simultaneously run an ad linking him to someone his VP pick referred to as a terrorist a few days ago. I have a weak stomach for negative ad campaigns in general, but when people are saying things at rallies like "off with his head" and "I can't trust him because [Obama]'s an Arab," McCain has to know that his campaign has crossed the line. If he wants American voters to believe that he can truly reform the Republican Party, he's been handed a golden opportunity to prove it. It's time for him to put a definitive end to these ridiculous character attacks. (And in response, Obama should also pull his ads on McCain and the Keating 5 Scandal). However, if I am honest, I think McCain and Palin should have nipped this in the bud as soon as the first of these outrageous comments were made. If there was ever a clear time to model judgment and decisiveness as a leader during this campaign, and to put country first, this was it.

Like some of you, I have harbored not just a little judgment toward the Republican Party while living under the Bush Administration. But I want to take this opportunity to remind myself and those of you like me that the bigots at these rallies do not represent all Republicans. Here's another good article by David Brooks, a conservative addressing the unfortunate trend of anti-intellectualism in the Republican party: The Class War Before Palin