Losing ugly

Back in the middle 1980s, the Chicago White Sox stayed in the thick of the American League pennant race with bare-knuckled, thumb-in-your-eye, scrappy play, stealing games by hook or crook rather than relying on strong hitting and pitching. The Sox were "winning ugly," observed Doug Rader, then manager of the Texas Rangers, and he wasn't being complimentary.

"Winning ugly," however, became the Sox team slogan. It was fun while it lasted, which wasn't long.

Now, as Barack Obama continues to surge ahead in the polls, the frantic Republican campaign seems to have perversely inverted that phrase. Day after day McCain and Palin and their minions hurl astonishing lies and smears at Obama, flinging the red meat of "Wright!" and "Ayers!" and "Barack Hussein Obama!" at slavering, shouting crowds straight out of Central Casting's extra bank for "Deliverance." Not for them the serious issues facing our nation.

Only one thing to call it: "Losing ugly."