Does it bother anyone that the Republican Party, with Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh
as standard bearers, so eagerly traffics in hate and fear and not much else? This strategy is of course
effective, because hate and fear are easily packaged into sound bites for media consumption. Still,
I should think thoughtful Republicans would be dismayed by the ascendancy of the rabid right.

No comment on contemporary conservative commentators as I don’t listen to or read them. Would agree that hate and fear are always bad, and from the little I have paid attention I suspect one could add self-righteous. I do read the liberals though, and to their hate and fear I would add condescension. The fear I have is that these people (on both sides) are the sources of knowledge for the average American.
The Palin thing must be especially galling to Democrats, all she has to do is post something on her Facebook page and she swings the debate. In part, I think there is some envy that she coined what is presently a signature phrase of the debate. Where is Tina Fey when they need her? The Dem response regarding the technical wording of the end of life counseling clause misses the larger point of the metaphor. See the British problems in the posts Is “end of life care” pro end of life? and Wouldn’t this be NICE?