Angry mobs burning with hatred fanned by a leader spilling bile from a podium. Sound familiar? I've seen that movie somewhere before. Or was it a newsreel? This is pure conjecture on my part, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that one of the populations of voters that these clips will most strongly motivate to vote for Obama will be Jews, particularly those who are old enough to remember cinematic newsreels from the 1930s and 40s.
For many of us too young to remember, these scary demonstrations of ignorant rage can actually be somewhat entertaining, but those with better or deeper memories know that a population worked into this kind of lather can be an extremely dangerous force. When people are this angry, there is no problem so complicated it can't be fixed with a torch, a noose, or a pitchfork. People blinded by rage want a solution, one that will end their problems once and for all and remake the land into a utopia. If the focus of the speaker that is riling them is a minority, that minority has to go. If it's one person, that person must die.
It must be remembered that the relative calm of American society is not something we can take for granted. There aren't enough police to keep the order should a group, even a demographically small one, feel that they have been existentially wronged and decide to take matters into their own hands. It only takes a few individuals sewing havoc to severely undermine the peace. If groups of people are being told that Obama is not like us and conspired with shady forces against the nation, some of those hearing this message will feel justified in taking extreme action.
If the older Jews had been skeptical of Obama before, perhaps because of his middle name or the slanders being passed around in emails, Obama's calm demeanor in this fiscal crisis and the uplifting-but-level-headed nature of his campaign appearances must be a positive contrast for the chaotic thuggery of at McCain/Palin appearances. I'll be interested in the internals of Florida polls to see if this week finally brings the vast bulk of Florida's Jewish population back firmly into the Democratic fold.