We haven't seen too much media narrative characterizing the new McCain strategy as what it is—fomenting hate speech. But at least one paper has called it like it is:
John McCain: If your campaign does not stop equating Sen. Barack Obama with terrorism, questioning his patriotism and portraying Mr. Obama as "not one of us," I accuse you of deliberately feeding the most unhinged elements of our society the red meat of hate, and therefore of potentially instigating violence.
At a Sarah Palin rally, someone called out, "Kill him!" At one of your rallies, someone called out, "Terrorist!" Neither was answered or denounced by you or your running mate, as the crowd laughed and cheered. At your campaign event Wednesday in Bethlehem, Pa., the crowd was seething with hatred for the Democratic nominee - an attitude encouraged in speeches there by you, your running mate, your wife and the local Republican chairman.
Shame!
The whole article is here:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/...
Hopefully this is the beginning of a trend as more media sources pick up this narrative.
There's fun in the comments section too; a particular rib-tickler is this comment from someone calling himself "Surf52":
And the democrats offer unspecified change funded by, well who else but me. I'll stick wth the dangerous hatred. It's much more fun to watch.
And it's the other guys liable to get hurt.
Yeaaahhh. They really don't care.