When I wrote my November 9, 2006 article
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_steven_l_061109_election_2006__96_afte.htm that deconstructed the results of the election that featured the Democratic takeover of congress, I had this to say about how the Republicans behaved in the run-up to that election:
When you see likely defeat coming around the corner in politics, you can go one of three ways, you can give up, which I don't recommend, you can fight harder using the best of what you have, or you can fight harder using the worst you have to offer. With the impending blue tsunami that was election 2006, too many Republicans chose to fight with the worst they had to offer.
Race baiting, general bigotry, attacking spouses, lying about opponents records, robo-calling, denigrating someone with a debilitating illness all of these and much more was employed by one or more Republicans in an all out effort to eke out a victory. If your party was going to surrender control after 11 years in the majority, is this the last thing you would want people to remember about your party's days in power?
When you talk about character, one of the things that stand out about a person's character is how they behave when things are not going their way. Anyone can be a great guy when success is around every corner. But when you are facing defeat right in the eye, that is the test of character. In Election 2006, Republicans failed this test badly.
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http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_steven_l_080218_hillary_clinton___de.htm