Thoughts while trying to distract myself from the fact that my beloved Red Sox have whittled away their lead in the East to 2.5 games...

The flap that's erupted over the MoveOn ad in the NYT has been a lovely object lesson in the difference between liberal and conservative politics. The ad in question, while ill-advised and dumbly headlined, was certainly no worse than even the tamer GOP ads of recent years. So why the massive hoopla? For one thing, the Republicans are simply better at exploiting this sort of thing. Any party that can turn a few illicit blow jobs into the second impeachment of a sitting President has quite the talent for turning a tiny mistake into a party-destroying fiasco.
The other aspect is that liberals, for the most part, don't support this sort of tactic. When your aim in politics is the betterment of the state, rather than simply seizing power, there's a tendency to dislike slash-and-burn tactics. Not that there haven't been ruthless liberals (LBJ comes swiftly to mind), but that ruthlessness tends to involve backroom deals rather than public character assassination. The point being that anytime a liberal group or politician goes in for smear tactics or shrill attack ads, they not only open themselves up to attack from their opponents for playing dirty pool, but they alienate their own base, which lacks the stomach for this sort of thing.

Meanwhile, the right eats it up. I'm reminded, actually, of an essay on Russian politics I just read. Yury Luzhkov, the popular mayor of Moscow, was attacked by a Kremlin-affiliated journalist who accused him of, among other things, murder. The accusations were, of course, false, but the very fact that the Kremlin could get away with making blatantly slanderous attacks on Luzhkov proved that the Kremlin was the stronger of the two. As such, they could be trusted to be powerful leaders.
There's a similar dynamic at work on the right in America. Whether the mud they fling at Democrats has any relation to reality is beside the point. The point is that they can get away with it, which makes them powerful. More importantly, it makes the Dems look weak, since we inevitably take the high road for just long enough for the slander to stick and bite us soundly on the ass.
Now's normally the point where I'd suggest a concrete solution. Can't think of much beyond floating the idea that every Democrat should memorize the line "That's the sort of pathetic attempt at character assassination that has no place in a legitimate political campaign. If my opponent has the werewithal to make those accusations to my face, I'll gladly answer them. Otherwise, let's continue to chat about why my healthcare plan will actually provide everyone with healthcare." And perhaps, just perhaps, leave the childish name-calling bullshit to the Republicans.