Elizabeth Dole: Soulless or merely Fascist?

North Carolina Senator Elizabeth Dole is panicking. She is in a tight reelection fight with Democrat Kay Hagen. With an eye to the polls, Senator Dole accused Hagen of being "godless." Even going so far to run an ad that appears to have Hagen saying there is no God. The implication is obvious, a person who doesn't profess a faith in God isn't qualified to serve in Congress.

The problem is Kay does believe in God. She is an active member of her church. Heck, it isn't even her voice in the ad.

However, what if Kay didn't believe in God? Does that disqualify a Senate candidate? Hardly! The Constitution merely requires someone to be 30 years old and been a U.S. citizen for 9 years to serve in the Senate. Moreover, the Constitution bars any religious test to hold office.

What if the ad had instead inferred that Kay believed in Allah, the Great Spirit, or Zeus? What if it had implied she was a Buddhist, Jew or Hindu? All except the extreme rightwing fringe would likely agree those ads are offensive. Yet, Liddy feels she can go after a supposed atheist without so much batting an eye.

RepubliCON candidates and media hacks appear to take every opportunity to publicly profess their faith as superior to all others. Anyone else getting the sense the GOP has veered hard right, straight toward fascism in these final days of the election?