Yes, it's gotten tough, and at times negative.
But with 11 days before decision time, Missouri's U.S. Senate race has been cleaner and more issue-focused than most of the other hot contests around the country.
Yes, Claire McCaskill called Jim Talent "a false patriot." But she later apologized.
Yes, in a Talent radio ad, a veteran called McCaskill "a liar . . . and a cheat." But Talent said he didn't believe she was those things, and wouldn't use those words.
Talent's been accused of running some misleading ads about McCaskill's record on nursing homes. And the recent strategy of the G.O.P. has been to zone in on the finances of the auditor's husband. On the other side, many conservatives are crying foul over McCaskill's Michael J. Fox ad, which gained national attention for playing on raw emotion.
Still, these charges aren't dirty. They are mostly hardball politics, which play on themes like "character," and "emotion." Is any ad completely fair? Are they ever?
But the real question is are they over the line? Many politicos I've read and watched, have agreed they are not.
In a year when Tennessee's Senate race has gotten into a back and forth about race-baiting and Playboy parties, New Jersey's Senate race features an ad about corruption at the level of "The Sopranos" and Virginia's race is now focused on fictional sex scenes in a book between a son and his father . . . the Show-Me state isn't looking so down-n'dirty after all.
Then again, it's all relative.
2 comments:
If I were a repub and were hoping for a loss because I thought it would benefit the party, then how would I be different from a demo? These pin heads are great.
Dave- I would like to know more about McCaskill's nursing home ownership. If these ads are wrong why doesn't the media expose them. I would also like to know about Talents finances.
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