Yet not surprising; I guess that's the Zen of Wingerism.

I figured that you'd conflate criticism of McCain on factual grounds with smears based on lies. Clark voiced the opinion that "I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president." In what respect is that statement a smear? How in the hell can you present that criticism as equivalent to the lie that Obama is a Muslim mole for al Qaeda, planted in the US 40 years ago?

Are vicious smears SOP for Republicans? If you were to conduct a survey asking people to cite the most memorable political smears they can think of, it's a certainty that the top two would be Floyd the Brown Stain's Willie Horton ad, and the swiftboating of John Kerry. You don't have to be a political junkie to remember those two classics. Question those who pay attention to politics, and you'd probably also hear about the Vince Foster smear, the smear that Hillary's a lesbian, the McCain "black baby" smear, and many, many more...all of them either targeting Democrats or targeting a Republican primary opponent.

The pervasiveness of Republican smears rather undercuts your attempt to dismiss them as the work of fringe groups. Either they're mainstream, or the GOP consists entirely of fringe groups (and I don't rule out the latter).

And then there's your red herring link to the "Marxists/Socialists/Communists for Obama" discussion group on the campaign site. Ooooooohh! Commies! Run for the hills!

By the way, did you know that the site lists close to 20,000 groups and "circles"? You found one out of 20,000 as fodder for your guilt-by-association tactic. Congratulations! You must've spent hours tracking down the Commies--McCarthy would be so proud of you.

Obama's got a big tent, and, in sharp contrast to the Right, isn't trying to sweep inconvenient supporters under the rug. I think that that attitude bodes well for the country when Obama takes office. It shows that, unlike McBush, he isn't blowing smoke about his intention to reunite the country after too many years of Republican divisiveness. If a political party can't unite its own factions, how can it expect anybody to believe that it can unite the country?

It's telling that you think that the Obama campaign is making a mistake by not locking out public comments on their blogs. Stifling dissent, censorship, and demanding conformity and message discipline, are the Republican way, and I admire the contrasting openness and transparency of the Obama campaign.

You take the low road, we'll take the high road, and let's see who gets to the White House first.