Not that I don't think it's juvenile and pretty much low-class humor, BUT....

This isn't every Democrat doing this, right? Just one in particular?

All I am saying is generalizations, ya know? In my mind, both parties have members who do questionable tactics, comments, and humor.

Also, I don't think the tactic is any different than anything Republicans have used against Clinton or past Dem presidents.

wrong Lachlan. This tactic is way over the top. And this is not a generalization, Terry McAuliffe speaks for the Democratic Party. This is a dispicable and juvenille act for someone with such authority to committ. How can he be taken seriously doing something like this? I would expect it from someone at MoveOn.org, not the leader of the Democratic party.

Mike,

Speaker for the Dems or not, can you please explain to me how this is ANY different than humor/criticism aimed any other past Presidents?

My point is that this behavior, regardless of how you feel about it, cannot possibly be new. Ultimately we have to ask ourselves how important a joke is to the outcome and events of an election.

Is a doormat of either Kerry or Bush going to sway voters to go one way or another? Probably not. I think most people will make up their minds based on other things.

I mentioned "generalization" because the article Paul cites speaks about one office, one person. I think it's unfair to wrap all Dems up in a blanket accusation of Bush Bashing because of McAuliffe's choice of floor decoration.

The President is not god. Should he be immune from jokes and free speech? Does this qualify as slander or libel? I don't think it does. No one should be subjected to hateful or purposely damaging speech, but I don't think this doormat qualifies as such.

So, if Bush wiped his feet on an image of John Kerry, do you think that would be acceptable? What about Tom Delay or Bill Frist? Would the media ignore it as gentlemen just expressing their free speech in a silly way?

McAufliffe is the Chairman of the Democratic Party. And he did this on TV. Think about it.

I personally don't care- I am not a Kerry supporter; even if I WAS, I don't think it's so earth-shattering as to warrant a backlash and retaliation.

It seems to me that mudslinging is just reaching new lows; why is anyone surprised?

If McAuliffe wants to imitate Saddam's tactics, I welcome that.

Well thats not so funny, but toilet paper with McAuliffe's face on it is pretty funny. It'd probably traumatize the little ones though.

"Speaker for the Dems or not, can you please explain to me how this is ANY different than humor/criticism aimed any other past Presidents?"

no different at all. Saddam loved having people step on Bush Sr.'s (or was it Dubya? i can't remember) face...

Ad hominem attacks are the bastion of those incapable of debating in the marketplace of ideas. The Bush-doormat tactic is but a trivial example of a Democrat party-wide vacuousness in policy-making.

Kerry has few active supporters for any attribute other than being anti-Bush, not the least because of his inability to establish a publicly intelligible position--absent of equivocating straddle--on any major issue.

When the Democrat party, under the "leadership" of Mr. McAuliffe, has something to say other than "Bush is bad", perhaps it will rise above adolescent levels of acting-out and move on to dialogue and debate.

Ad hominem attacks are the bastion of those incapable of debating in the marketplace of ideas. The Bush-doormat tactic is but a trivial example of a Democrat party-wide vacuousness in policy-making.

Kerry has few active supporters for any attribute other than being anti-Bush, not the least because of his inability to establish a publicly intelligible position--absent of equivocating straddle--on any major issue.

When the Democrat party, under the "leadership" of Mr. McAuliffe, has something to say other than "Bush is bad", perhaps it will rise above adolescent levels of acting-out and move on to dialogue and debate.

They've gone stark raving mad.

No, I'm serious. I mean completely 'round the bend.

It's unhealthy, but there's not much to be done about it.

Well, apparently the DNC has decided to go completely over to the side of Saddam and the Arab World in general. Remember that it is a grave insult to walk over the image of a person. And if I recall correctly, Saddam created an image of Bush (dont remember if it was father or son) for his countrymen to walk over.

So the Dems are proceeding from Saddam's playbook (but then why shouldn't they. They already got Rather to play Bagdad Bob. ) It would be interesting to see what other tactics the Dems have borrowed from the dictator.

I suppose that, when Kerry loses, he and his aides will further follow arab irrationality and take off their shoes and pound on the nearest images of Bush.