For the past few days, Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) has been attacking her primary challenger, Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, over his ties to a pharmaceutical company sued for misleading investors.
The incumbent Democrat launched a website titled "Dollar Bill Halter" last week and sent out an accompanying mailer that stands out for its provocative suggestion that Halter literally has a prescription drug problem.
The Huffington Post was passed a copy of the mailer, which is enclosed below:
The attack has been condemned by Halter aides as "desperate" -- mainly because the candidate's service with the pharmaceutical company, Threshold Pharmaceuticals, was restricted to the board (he wasn't named in the lawsuit).
On the pushback front, the lieutenant governor got some help on Tuesday morning, when an Arkansas News columnist took Lincoln to task for those mailers, as well as a host of other negative attacks.
"This is the cynical demonization process that is part of a cancer on our politics," wrote columnist John Brummett, who emphasized that he's hardly a fan of Halter. "It's not enough to distinguish yourself from your opponent by performance and policy. You must delve into his past and overstate any association that might make him seem more than someone with whom you merely disagree, but someone who is a sinister threat, near-criminal."