Dear John & Sarah: We’re Still Waiting

The calls for John McCain and Sarah Palin to speak out over the unhinged behavior of their campaign rally audiences are increasing, but the candidates themselves — who are directly responsible for this troubling trend — are still AWOL on the issue.

Writes Jonathan Martin at The Politico:

“The unmistakable momentum behind Barack Obama’s campaign, combined with worry that John McCain is not doing enough to stop it, is ratcheting up fears and frustrations among conservatives.

“And nowhere is this emotion on plainer display than at Republican rallies, where voters this week have shouted out insults at the mention of Obama, pleaded with McCain to get more aggressive with the Democrat and generally demonstrated the sort of visceral anger and unease that reflects a party on the precipice of panic.”

And this from John Weaver, McCain’s former top strategist:

“People need to understand, for moral reasons and the protection of our civil society, the differences with Sen. Obama are ideological, based on clear differences on policy and a lack of experience compared to Senator McCain. And from a purely practical political vantage point, please find me a swing voter, an undecided independent, or a torn female voter that finds an angry mob mentality attractive.

“Senator Obama is a classic liberal with an outdated economic agenda. We should take that agenda on in a robust manner. As a party we should not and must not stand by as the small amount of haters in our society question whether he is as American as the rest of us. Shame on them and shame on us if we allow this to take hold.”

Obama himself addressed the issue this morning in an Ohio stump speech, declaring:

“It’s easy to rile up a crowd by stoking anger and division. But that’s not what we need right now in the United States. The times are too serious. The challenges are too great. The American people aren’t looking for someone who can divide this country — they’re looking for someone who will lead it. We’re in a serious crisis — now, more than ever, it is time to put country ahead of politics. Now, more than ever, it is time to bring change to Washington so that it works for the people of this country that we love.”

I really don’t want to believe that McCain and Palin condone people who shout out “terrorist!” or “kill him!” at these rallies. But their silence is deafening and all it will take is one nut with a gun who has a vision that he should go on a mission to alter the course of history.

As Joe Klein notes:

“[W]e are on the edge of some real serious craziness here and it would be nice if McCain did the right thing and told his more bloodthirsty supporters to go home and take a cold shower. But McCain hasn’t done the right thing all year. His campaign is appalling . . .”