Once in a while there is an analysis or post so perfect that it does it a disservice to quote it or comment on it, since it needs to be read IN FULL. This post by Howard Fineman on why campaign 2012 is going to get nastier and nastier needs to be read in its entirety. Nothing I say can add to it or top this post which is REQUIRED READING.
I will do a later post on his comments about the media, which are spot on.
FOOTNOTE: I remember Fineman from when I went to Colgate University but I doubt he remembers me (or if he does it was in my old incarnation as a hard-right supporter of the Vietnam War — which changed once Nixon invaded Cambodia. I was a “Scoop Jackson Democrat” in those days, and for a while was a Republican.)
UPDATE: The Washington Post’s Dana Milbank weighs in on the same theme.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.