GOP getting down, dirty and personal

This won't come as news to people in Wisconsin's 8th Congressional District, where Reppublicans are running personal attack ads against one of the Democrats, Steve Kagen, even before the primary.

That attack is part of a larger strategy to go after Democrats not on their voting records but on whatever sort of personal dirt they've been able to find, the WashPost reports:

In a Pivotal Year, GOP Plans to Get Personal
Millions to Go to Digging Up Dirt on Democrats

Republicans are planning to spend the vast majority of their sizable financial war chest over the final 60 days of the campaign attacking Democratic House and Senate candidates over personal issues and local controversies, GOP officials said.

The National Republican Congressional Committee, which this year dispatched a half-dozen operatives to comb through tax, court and other records looking for damaging information on Democratic candidates, plans to spend more than 90 percent of its $50 million-plus advertising budget on what officials described as negative ads.

The hope is that a vigorous effort to "define" opponents, in the parlance of GOP operatives, can help Republicans shift the midterm debate away from Iraq and limit losses this fall. The first round of attacks includes an ad that labeled a Democratic candidate in Wisconsin "Dr. Millionaire" and noted that he has sued 80 patients.

"Opposition research is power," said Rep. Thomas M. Reynolds (N.Y.), the NRCC chairman. "Opposition research is the key to defining untested opponents."

And, yes, before the comments come from the army of trolls who are my faithful readers, I've been known to run a negative ad or two in my time. I'm not passing judgment here, just reporting the facts.