Columnist Davis Merritt of the Eagle newspaper in Wichita, Kansas, excoriates McCain's "Rovian" turn of late. He is referring to Karl Rove, the Bush political strategist whom liberals decry as a symbol of dirty politics, and whom Bush nicknamed "turdblossom".
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What struck me most about the column was his metaphor for negative campaigning:
The Rovians care about only one issue: winning. One can argue that winning is the only thing a political campaign can or should be about, but that ignores the long-term damage that a win-at-any-cost credo does to democracy.
If, for instance, airlines took that approach, we'd have United Airlines warning us that it is dangerous to fly American Airlines, voiced over pictures of burning airliners and body bags. That doesn't happen, of course, because all airlines understand their joint stake in not scaring customers out of the skies.
But too many political operatives, including McCain's new ones, believe that destroying our political system by driving citizens away in disgust or disillusionment is not too high a price to pay for victory on Election Day.
