Some things I just can't believe

I was going to blog about the Republican party's shopping sprees. I mean, I enjoy new clothes as much as the next person who can see Russia from her home, but does anyone but me think this is excessive and ridiculous?! (And does saying you are donating them to charity afterward really make this expenditure ok?)

But this morning I found a different topic.

A number of months back, I signed up for the Obama campaign's email list. And for the most part, I find the frequent emails monotonous and a bit annoying.

But today I was shocked. The email I got this morning highlighted yet another mailing that the McCain campaign put out, accusing Obama of siding with terrorists. It tries to capitalize on the 9-11 fear to cut into Obama's support. This mailing comes alongside another large robocall surge with the same theme.

However, I was glad to see that this really dirty attempt to lure away voters by appealing to their fear may not be working as intended. A GOP official in Wisconsin has endorsed Obama due to these calls and mailings.

In issuing her statement, Lorman became the latest in a growing line of GOP officials who have publicly denounced the recent tone and tactics of the McCain camp. In recent days, Sens. Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe and Norm Coleman, as well as former Secretary of State Colin Powell, have all been highly critical of the Arizona Republican's efforts to tie Barack Obama to former Weather Underground member Bill Ayers. Lorman is not, obviously, of the same national stature as these other officials. But her place in Wisconsin politics makes her an influential voice in an important swing state.

The fact that she is a lifelong Republican -- she left the Senate in 1994 and, until recently, was the longest woman serving senator in Wisconsin history -- now crossing party lines is also of interest.

And some people are quitting their jobs after refusing to make the robocalls that accuse Obama of ties to terrorism. In this economy, that's a big ethical stance to take.

I understand that McCain is becoming desperate in the final days of the race as his campaign falters, but I'm still in shock that he would stoop this low. I watched most of the third presidential debate, and I was impressed at how well McCain presented some of his points. I still was turned off by his repeating some of the same old tired, already-been-refuted claims, but over-all he came across much better than he has in the past.

This is just low. How-low-can-you-go low. McCain doing the limbo, so-to-speak. (But I guess he IS known for being flexible.)

I'm not the most educated voter out there, I admit. I try to research fact vs fiction, but I get burned out with elections easily. So I tend to make my decision pretty quickly and ignore the crap after that. When things get ugly, I pretty much just tune out.

But this sort of thing just seems so transparent to me. Obviously scare tactics must work sometimes, or people wouldn't continue to use them. But WHY do they work? How can anyone be so gullible to not see through something this blatant?

It just looks like people WANT to believe this crap, so they can have a reason to not vote for Obama that doesn't look like they are voting against his skin color. And that is just another type of racism.

I, for one, am praying that we are bigger than these tactics. Because in my opinion, voting for someone who would run a campaign that uses this type of crap is worse than voting against someone because of his race.

I don't know how to process the concept that anything this low could even conceivably benefit McCain. It seems impossible. It makes me sick to my stomach.