Alright, IMO, the worst thing about going negative...

[Guaranteed]

I mean REALLY going negative, which in my world means basically trying to rip to shreds every ounce of credibility the Bush administration might retain by any means necessary, is this:

It would tear our country apart.

The great thing about change through example, instead of the whip, is that there aren't any hard feelings afterward. But a negative campaign war is much closer to actual "war" than I'm truly comfortable with. All out negative campaigns make enemies of opposing parties, and the way our country is right now we're already so distanced from each other. I'm not sure our country could even take much more polarization without very serious consequences.

Now, mind you, the other guys DID start it- but if we could ASSUREDLY find a way to win this election without splitting our country in two, I'd be much more comfortable with that. We're all going to have to live with each other once the election is over. We're still going to have a lot of problems that we're going to have to work together on. And we're going to have to see each other in the streets, in the supermarkets, at the workplace.

We just need to be careful not to create a divide that can't be healed over with time.