We saw nothing like this during the 2004 campaign, with Swift Boat attacks on John Kerry's character seeming tame in comparison.

Even some Christian fundamentalists, who are drawn to the McCain-Palin pro-life platform, are cringing, and are afraid of this extremely violent approach to politics, and are again planning to sit out this election.

Moderate Republicans (except for racists) are mostly joining Susan Eisenhower in her support for Obama. They want calm, educated leadership in the U.S. during this time of economic crisis. Race-baiting is not what we need now, although Palin is drawing the curtain away from an ugly side of the U.S.

Now we can see the continued legacies of American history of lynchings, KKK domesic terrorism, and slavery. It's unpatriotic to stoke the attitudes that created these inhuman and anti-democratic practices.

But Palin was associated with an Alaskan separatist movement as well as a church that advocated religious infiltration into politcs.

This is the worst side of American culture, and I'm a pro-life conservative who has tutored teens in crisis pregnancies. Don't we want to bring children into a society that respects life and all people, regardless of skin color?

As a supporter of a consistent ethic of life, I believe we must work to create a culture of civility and respect for all people, so children don't grow up, wishing they hadn't been born, because of being wounded by racist attitudes and lack of opportunity because of racial discimination.

Thank you for this revealing blog.