MSNBC and CNN have repeatedly called for (CRIED for) the Democrats to begin attacking the Bush Administration. There is some validity to this because the current President has severely harmed the country through misled and misinformed policy; however, I get the impression that the national media will not be satisfied until Obama and the DNC are dragging Bush, Cheney and McCain through mud and fire. While I share the tremendous disgust for all three of these men (throw in Rove, to boot), I do not want to see "attack ads." I'm fine with speeches and commercials highlighting the worst of the last 2 presidential terms, but a line should be drawn. I'm satisfied with where Howard Dean and Barack Obama have drawn that line.
What do we want? Do we want our own Swiftboat campaign? I sure as hell don't. If the Democratic Party is going to run on the foundation of American values it can not go down that road (or Vietnamese river...). These values, after all, are the ones that have been absent from American politics for the last 8 years. These values are the ones that can go along way to restoring the economy and rebuilding relationships with our friends abroad.
Discarding those values and sinking to the level of Karl Rove would absolutely undermine the progress the Democratic Party can make in November. Politics are dirty. I'm not naive. But it will take more than just "attack ads" and negative speeches to restore America to its supremacy. The world watches us now. Let's not continue the legacy of hypocrisy that Barack Obama will be left to contend with in January 2009.