Errant Email Offers Insight in Dirty Politics

An errant email from a Republican party staffer about a few Rush Limbaugh remarks shows how sleazy campaigning can be, Andrew Zajac blogs for the Chicago Tribune. On his radio show, Limbaugh imagined Obama asking Palin, "When you found out your baby would be born with Down syndrome, did you consider killing it before or after the due date?" He also joked that Palin could show Obama how to bait a hook or fire a gun.

An RNC rep sent an email to colleagues—and a Tribune reporter, accidentally—with the title “wow…good YouTube potential.” When the newspaper followed up, the RNC said it would not act on the suggestion. But Zajac calls the note instructive: While candidates stick to the high road, radio hosts and bloggers are free to crank up crude, personal, and nasty commentary as independent agents. While candidates could reprimand their noxious brethren, “that rarely happens.” (More Rush Limbaugh stories.)