This was inevitable after John McCain and Sarah Palin started ramping up the personal attacks.
The anger is getting raw at Republican rallies and John McCain is acting to tamp it down. McCain was booed by his own supporters Friday when, in an abrupt switch from raising questions about Barack Obama’s character, he described the Democrat as a “decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared of as president of the United States.”
A sense of grievance spilling into rage has gripped some GOP events this week as McCain supporters see his presidential campaign lag against Obama. Some in the audience are making it personal, against the Democrat. Shouts of “traitor,” “terrorist,” “treason,” “liar,” and even “off with his head” have rung from the crowd at McCain and Sarah Palin rallies, and gone unchallenged by them.
McCain changed his tone Friday when supporters at a town hall pressed him to be rougher on Obama. A voter said, “The people here in Minnesota want to see a real fight.” Another said Obama would lead the U.S. into socialism. Another said he did not want his unborn child raised in a country led by Obama.
Is McCain sincere? Is he starting to see that he’s creating a mob mentality?
There are many Americans who have very legitimate disagreements with Obama. He’s a liberal. But we know that there are crazies on both sides of the political spectrum, and if you whip up fear and feed their anger at political rallies, you run the risk that the angry mob takes over your message.
Hopefully, McCain will recognize that he risks what’s left of his reputation if he doesn’t tamp down these personal attacks.
