Out for blood...

Posted at 6:50 PM on October 10, 2008 by Tom Scheck (4 Comments)

The crowd at John McCain's townhall meeting in Lakeville was, shall we say, a bit partisan. Some called for McCain to fight Obama at next Wednesday's rally. Another woman said she didn't trust him because he was an Arab. Another said they didn't know if they could live in a country that had Barack Obama as its president.

McCain, who has been questioning Obama's character in recent days, was booed when he called Obama a decent and honorable man. Listen to the full town hall here:

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Comments (4)

As a Minnesota ex-pat, this rally really, really disappointed me. The McCain-Palin rallies have been getting more and more alarming, and I was certain that the Minnesota rally would be different. How disappointing that this election which began with promises of being different has become so extreme in the hate and ignorance. How disappointing that people, especially Minnesotans, believe Obama is an Arab. (And what would be the problem if he was?)

Posted by Molly | October 10, 2008 7:16 PM

This kind of thing is going on all over the country, if you believe today's AP stories about McCain town hall meetings.

"McCain, who has been questioning Obama's character in recent days, was booed when he called Obama a decent and honorable man."

The consevatives don't believe that; they believe McCain is lying to them when he tells them that. Because conservative talk radio is telling them that Obama is not a decent and honorable man; because evangelical public affairs programming is telling them that Obama is not a decent and honorable man.

This is the climate of hatred that has been perpetuated for the last thirty years or so, where any calumny against liberals is nurtured and repeated endlessly to motivate conservative voters.

If I were Obama, I'd double my bodyguard. This hatred we're seeing is coming to the surface as he increases his lead in the polls. It's not going away; it's the basis of American conservatism.

Posted by Bill Prendergast | October 10, 2008 10:11 PM

This "conservative hatred" angle is being spun way out of proportion, to spread fear among moderates and to demoralize Republicans. Anyone heard of the anarchists who smashed windows in downtown Saint Paul or ambushed delegate buses during the Republican convention? Does anyone really believe that these were mainstream Democrats? There are extremes on the left and right of the political spectrum (http://www.pheistyblog.com/archives/1939).

Mainstream conservatives have liberal friends and relatives, and vice versa. Kudos to McCain for taking the high road and defending Sen. Obama's character during these rallies, while highlighting his disagreements on policy. That's leadership.

Posted by Matt Abe | October 13, 2008 11:46 AM

"A bit partisan?!" I'm shocked, shocked that there's partisanship going on at a political rally!

Posted by Matt Abe | October 13, 2008 11:54 AM

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