Ugly McCain rehtoric getting more attention

Last night on AC 360 on CNN David Gergen expressed his concern over the ugly rehtoric that John McCain has been spewing, 

COOPER: There’s also the question of ruling after this, and bringing the country together. It’s going to be all the more harder to do that whoever wins with all this anger out there.

GERGEN: This—I think one of the most striking things we’ve seen now in the last few day. We’ve seen it in a Palin rally. We saw it at the McCain rally today. And we saw it to a considerable degree during the rescue package legislation. There is this free floating sort of whipping around anger that could really lead to some violence. I think we’re not far from that.

COOPER: Really?

GERGEN: I think it’s so—well, I really worry when we get people—when you get the kind of rhetoric that you’re getting at these rallies now. I think it’s really imperative that the candidates try to calm people down. And that’s why I’ve argued not only because of the question of the ugliness of it.

But I think McCain ought to get his campaign off the road and look at the—and get the best economic minds in the country together and come back Monday, Tuesday, with a really serious speech. He’s the one who ought to be buying TV time, talking to the country.

These are dangerous times. People are frantic and losing their jobs, they are terrified about the future. Years of Republican dominance are coming to an end. The market is crashing. We are in two wars. And right now, it looks like a young black man may be the next President, and after thirty years of culture war, there is a firm “us” vs. “them” mentality at play in the heartland.

And what the McCain campaign is doing, whipping their supporters into a froth, is dangerous. This “he’s buddies with terrorists” is irresponsible beyond just the fact that it is nonsense.

Gergen is sort of the epitome of Very Serious Washington Insider.  Gergen isn't a hysteric and he isn't a Democrat, he's an establishment conservative from way back. When he expresses concern that McCain's recent path may insight violence it's something that I'm sure made a lot of people sit up and take notice.

I saw this live myself last night and was surprised to see Gergen so out front on this issue. It's apparently not just folks like me who are concerned about the hate that the McCain campaign is stirring up.