Hope and Change

Eh, not so much. For the Dems, it's more like Fear and Loathing.

Democratic candidates across the country are opening a fierce offensive of negative advertisements against Republicans, using lawsuits, tax filings, reports from the Better Business Bureau and even divorce proceedings to try to discredit their opponents and save their Congressional majority. [ . . . ]

As they struggle to break through with economic messages, many Democrats are deploying the fruits of a yearlong investigation into the business and personal histories of Republican candidates . . .

In other words, with nothing positive of their own to point to, they have resorted to childish name-calling. The piece goes on to describe how many of the Republicans come from a business rather political background, and so have a more lengthy paper trail:

This year, as Republicans work to gain at least the 39 seats they need to take control of the House, many of their nominees have never run for office and come from business backgrounds, which often include a trail of documents.

For tolerant, respectful, and diversity loving Americans, these Democrats have a nasty streak a mile wide. And how did they manage to dig up all this dirt? They worked awfully hard at it, for a long time.

For more than a year, a large team of researchers at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has been digging into the backgrounds of potential Republican candidates. It is political detective work, with every piece of a candidate’s past fair game, so long as it is a part of the public record. [ . . . ]

Some of the material is rooted in policy, including the “Fair Tax,” a national sales tax pledge signed by many Republicans, which Democrats say would raise sales taxes by 23 percent. Many of the findings, however, are not rooted in legislation or policy.

If it means being subject to this sort of withering scrutiny from people this judgmental and mean spirited, what sort of decent individual would want anything to do with running for office?