Democratic consultant Chris Lehane is quoted in the New York Times today saying, "Campaigns are campaigns. In the last five days, it always comes down to a knife fight in a telephone booth." And that seems to be just about where we’re at…

When it comes to dirtying up American politics, many blame one man: long time GOP operative Lee Atwater. Lee Atwater excelled at finding a single issue that was scary and simple enough to stick, and running with it. Simple and scary works.

The challenge for Democrats and their finger-crossing friends on the Left right now is to answer the simple question: can the urgency of need in a crisis like this drown out the drama of fright?

The good news about the last four weeks of the campaign is that people talk – to strangers, family members, and far flung friends –and they talk about politics.

And when it comes to winning campaigns, Atwater is only half the story. The Religious Right, who learned from the labor movement and Left — filled in the rest. Talking points matter, they knew, but so do real-life talkers. The scariest ad on your TV set can’t compete with the person you know – talking to you at your table, at your workplace, on your doorstep.

Sarah Palin has announced, "For me, the heels are on, the gloves are off.” Sure enough, Dana Milbank of the Washington Post reports today that in Clearwater, where Palin campaigned Monday, reporters were greeted with shouts and taunts by the crowd and, after Palin blamed Katie Couric for her bad interview last week, her supporters turned on the camera crews. One Palin supporter shouted a racial epithet at an African American sound-man and told him, "Sit down, boy."

We’re likely in for four more weeks of this stuff. It may even get worse. But the louder the noise on the TV gets, the more change-makers would be smart to talk. The best change-makers listen carefully to strangers, and they talk, not from talking points but from the heart.

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