I’m not holding my breath in these last desperate weeks waiting for an end to it, but Brave New Films and The Color of Change are calling for McCain/Palin to condemn the hate and fearmongering being perpetrated by those angry mobs of supporters. They stoked the fires and now we see this:
Even Russ Feingold, linked as partners in campaign finance reform legislation. with McCain, can no longer stand by in silence while the bigot mobs continue erupting with McCain/Palin alternating between stoking them and ignoring them. (via email):We’d like to talk about the pressing issues facing our country: the woeful economy, rising unemployment, the housing crisis, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But we can’t talk about them because John McCain and Sarah Palin have distracted us with the politics of hate and fear.
Instead of discussing the real issues plaguing Americans, McCain and Palin have turned to fear-mongering and race-baiting, stoking the prejudices of their supporters. The situation has become so critical that we’ve teamed up with Color of Change to put an end to these dangerous mob scenes.
Things have gotten so out of control that some conservatives have come forward to denounce McCain and Palin’s hate-mongering. In an Op-Ed for The Baltimore Sun, Frank Schaeffer writes: “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.”
Don’t let McCain and Palin undo the decades spent fighting for civil rights and equality in our country.
“In a closely fought campaign like the Presidential race, elements of either side can get caught up in the emotions of the contest. This is especially true during stressful economic times. I heard Senator McCain help tamp down the rhetoric at a recent town hall meeting.
Regrettably, he needs to do more of that. An energetically waged campaign can all too easily slip over into something hateful and dangerous, and everyone from the candidate on down needs to do whatever it takes to stop that. It won’t seem credible for the John McCain I know to say his campaign should be respectful, while seeming to look the other way as his campaign employs certain tactics and rhetoric which apparently are intended to appeal to the fears of some Americans.”
I like that he made the point that McCain has changed - he’s not the man he knew back in the day. That’s an understatement.
The open letter from Color of Change and Brave New Films to the McCain/Palin campaign is below the fold.