Chris Shays is in a tough re-election fight and decided to throw McCain under the bus for his own race.

We all knew it was going to be a slime campaign, all pledges aside from John McCain. Whatever label he applies to himself, he is still a republican. If it wasn't for smear campaigns, false promises and lies, George Bush would not have served any time in the White House. They are protecting a certain class of the electorate, the wealthiest among us, those who disdain paying taxes but enjoy their benefits regardless, and the evangelical community which has tied itself to the same group, hoping their control of congress will help them control the social agenda.

They claim to be the "true Americans," but display their patriotism by demonizing those who don't agree with their agenda; the same freedoms they purport to protect. Wasn't it unpatriotic to disagree with the invasion of Iraq? If it's not patriotic to pay one's fair share of federal and state taxes is it patriotic to avoid paying one's fair share of taxes?

And whose "values" do republicans subscribe to, whose values do they reject? Don't urban dwellers who toil in hourly wage jobs share the same family values as rural populations? Do people from different religious orientations devote themselves to their God less than another's?

It's not all about McCain's campaign, it is a tried and tired effort to maintain control to the benefit of a minority segment of the population which believes their personal agendas trump the needs and desires of the majority of American citizens.

" Palin accuses Obama of ties to second 'radical professor'" cnn

hasn't this GOP vp pick smelled it yet? i don't know about you folks, but it no longer just sour grapes, it's the sewer, and lipstick and 150,000 in designer clothes doesn't mask it either ... it's the economy, ms palin!