Errant Email Offers Insight in Dirty Politics

Crude Limbaugh remarks have 'good YouTube potential'
By Kate Rockwood,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 30, 2008 7:55 PM CDT
Errant Email Offers Insight in Dirty Politics
As an independent agent, radio personality Rush Limbaugh can be as nasty and crude as he pleases, without tarnishing the candidate's official campaign, writes Andrew Zajac.   (AP Photo/Gary He)

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.)

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