Kerry Spot    [ jim geraghty reporting ]
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There's been a pretty striking reaction in my in-box to my earlier comment doubting that there will be much public outcry over Kerry's reputed use of previously written notes during the debate.

I am accused of "already setting us up for failure in the expectations game again." I am to be ashamed for "giving Kerry a pass, too much like the passes the press all gave Clinton." I apparently think "it's okay for Democrats to cheat." Some writers charge that "honor means nothing" to me.

I'm "bailing out on readers." I'm "a wimp."

Okay, people — let's step back. We all know we're a month away from a big, big presidential election. The choice is stark. Ninety-some percent of us support one guy or the other, and don't think much of the other guy.

We're impassioned. We're tense. In some ways, this race has been going full speed, with full brickbats aimed at the president, since late 2003. Heck, maybe this race has been going on since Gore conceded Florida. This is a longer, harsher, and nastier presidential race than any citizen in any country has ever witnessed before. This race has been inescapable — it has been fought on our multiplexes, in our music, and twenty-four-hours a day on nearly every channel. Every shelf at our local bookstore is teeming with books screaming, "IF YOU DISAGREE WITH MY VIEWPOINT, YOU ARE AN IDIOT."

This race hasn't just included personal attacks at each candidate — "Bush is a smirking chimp," "Kerry is Lurch from the Addams Family," etc. This race has featured stunningly personal attacks aimed at the other side's voters. The whole "Retro vs. Metro" book from a few weeks ago was an exercise in regional chauvinism, detailing the intellectual and moral failures of the "red states."

You're not merely a fool if you disagree with one of these new voices of political leadership; you're genuinely evil.

Ann Coulter called the Democratic convention "the spawn of Satan convention."

The home page of Catholics for Kerry 04 prominently lists comments by Wayne Madsden, who says, 'George W. Bush's blood lust, his repeated commitment to Christian beliefs and his constant references to 'evil doers,' in the eyes of many devout Catholic leaders, bear all the hallmarks of the one warned about in the Book of Revelations-the anti-Christ.' He also charges that Bush 'couples his political fanaticism with a neo-Christian blood cult.'

The other side isn't just wrong, they're following Satan!

Deep breath, people.

We've seen some stunning things in the past year. We've seen a network news anchor insist that his sketchy sources are truthful and that our eyes are lying. We've seen his colleagues declare criticism of his actions unfair and comparable to terrorism.

We've seen service in the National Guard equated to fleeing to Canada.

We've seen allies fighting and dying alongside American soldiers dismissed as "coerced and bribed."

We've learned that a senator who has built his career on a war-hero reputation was widely disliked among his peers, smashing the glowing history that catapulted him to the nomination.

We've seen a member of the Senate wish, on national television, that he could challenge Chris Matthews to a duel.

We've seen NPR pick a Kerry donor for a feature about a "swing voter."

We've seen a silly, implausible rumor about bringing back the draft get treated as a serious and likely policy proposal to stir up fears among young voters.

And we've seen me get something wrong because I trusted the accuracy of an RNC press release.

At what point to political passions become mass hysteria?

My guess is, we're going to see more stunning things in the next 30 days or so. And then, hopefully, all of this insanity will be over in a month, presuming there are no recounts.

There's been a certain amount of mail in the last week suggesting that the Kerry Spot "owes" it to Bush to support him openly and directly.

My dear readers, I love you all. But I owe two things to two constituencies: my best work to the editors who hired me and my best judgment and honest take on things to the readers. That's it.

When I think the president does something well, I'm going to say it. When I think Kerry does well, I'm going to say it. When either guy messes up, I'm going to say that, too. And hopefully I'll keep you pretty comprehensively up to speed in the process.

It's my job.