From the Milwaukee J-S: An Uncivil Season and other stories

[LittleClarkie]

Volunteers fend off epithets, rocks and worse during intense campaign season
By CRAIG GILBERT

Forgive Lisa Maier for thinking all civility has been lost. Hers was one of those houses in Madison that had a swastika burned into the lawn with herbicides - right next to her Bush-Cheney sign.

"It was very mean-spirited," she says.

And forgive Tracey Sperko for thinking the campaign trail has gotten too ugly for her 4-year-old son. She's the state coordinator of Veterans for Kerry. Her car has been spat on. She's been cursed and vilified at parades. She was even jeered by a Boy Scout troop, she says.

"Now I know what it's like to be hated," says the nine-year Navy veteran, working on her first election.

As everybody knows, it's "polarized" out there. Emotions are raw. Politics has never been nice, but this campaign seems to have brought out the sign-stealing, bird-flipping, rock-throwing goon in people.

There are many Bush and Kerry partisans who believe the bad behavior and eye-bulging hate can be found largely one on side. People can judge for themselves who they think is less civilized. But loyalists of both candidates have their horror stories, some verifiable, some not. Stealing signs - epidemic in this race, but hardly novel - is the least of it.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/oct04/270295.asp

I've worked with Tracy. Nice girl, and working hard in what is essentially a grassroots effort from the veterans for Kerry in Wisconsin. They pay for alot of things out of their own pocket, from signs to free showings of "Going Upriver."

If you click on the link, there's a picture. She's the one with the flags by her face.

Also in this issue is a story about our area Republicans challenging a bunch of voter registrations, saying the addresses for them are bogus.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/oct04/270289.asp

and the followup on-line which says the Republicans lost their bid to have these registrations thrown out.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/oct04/270333.asp