As the end of an election cycle nears, it's not uncommon for emotions to run high among those in the political arena. The combination of excitement and anxiety leads to frayed nerves and occasional lapses in judgment.
The result is predictable: partisans who use language they probably shouldn't. Take this report, for example, published this morning by New Hampshire Public Radio.
If you are seeking nuance or restraint, you won't find it at a get-out-the-vote rally on the Sunday before a tight election. Here's State GOP chairman Jennifer Horn last night in Manchester: "This is our time. We need to crush it. We need to grab it, run with it, push their heads under over and over again until they cannot breathe anymore, until the elections are over Tuesday night."
How charming.
Now, before anyone sends me angry emails, I realize that the chair of the New Hampshire Republican Party was not literally calling for the murder of local Democrats.
But can reasonable people agree that it's more than a little over the top when a state party chair calls for pushing rivals' heading "under the water over and over again until they cannot breathe anymore"? Maybe there's some other, less-homicidal metaphor partisans can use?
A Democratic source provided MaddowBlog with an exclusive first look at this YouTube clip of Horn's comments from yesterday. Note, the Republican crowd applauded the rhetoric. (The footage was originally captured by Manchester Ink Link publisher Carol Robidoux),
* Update: The transcription from the New Hampshire Public Radio report was off just a little, so I cleaned it up to be more accurate.