Republicans' desperate tactics will be counter-productive

Two leading national polls this week show Barack Obama, the Democratic U.S. presidential candidate, widening his lead over the Republican candidate John McCain. Obama is ahead by 14% (53% to 39%) in a New York Times/CBS News poll, and by 9% (50% to 41%) in a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll.

The McCain campaign, in a desperate effort to halt the slide, has unfortunately adopted tactics to instill fear/hate amongst voters for Obama, as opposed to convincing them why they should prefer McCain. Below is a picture from a McCain-Palin rally in Virgina this week. Their supporters are holding signs to suggest an equivalence between Obama and the Islamic terrorists responsible for the brutal 9/11 attacks in the U.S. This is extremely deplorable.


Source: Chip Somodevilla/AFP/Getty

I doubt such fear tactics, which unfortunately became mainstream during the current Bush administration, are going to work. A message of hope and optimism, especially during the current economic gloom and doom, is what voters need. If the McCain campaign continues down this path, and does not instead focus on selling how their candidate is better than Barack Obama on critical policy issues, we may see the Democratic lead widening even further.