To cleanse the palate, a cheeky reminder from Reason TV that, as with so many other things, when it comes to political attacks the Founding Fathers simply did it at a higher level than we could. I’ve long wondered what possible common thread could have led us from Thomas Jefferson to, um, Alan Grayson. And now we know, my friends. The tie that unites us all as Americans: Dirtbaggish campaign ads.

Speaking of which, I want to make a long-distance dedication of this clip to the Party Of Ideas™, whose policy “accomplishments” in Congress over the past two years have so horrified voters that Ideas are now the last thing Democrats want to talk about on the campaign trail. It’s come to this:

As you watch this year’s ads — and I’ve been watching all too many lately — you’ll notice a striking difference between Democratic and Republican attack ads: Democrats are attacking over personal issues, Republicans are attacking over policy.

There are, of course, many exceptions, but the overall trend is clear. Democrats are hitting their Republican opponents over past legal transgressions, shady business deals and even speeding tickets. Republicans are hammering Democrats over “Obamacare,” Nancy Pelosi and the economy.

A recent study by the Wesleyan Media Project actually quantifies this. They looked at 900,000 airing of political ads this year and concluded: “Democrats are using personal attacks at much higher rates than Republicans and a much higher rate than Democrats in 2008.”

ObamaCare and the stimulus and financial reform, with cap-and-trade and amnesty presumably to come, and what Harry Reid really wants you to take away from this campaign is that Sharron Angle is “pathological” or something. That’s how excited he is about his own legislative record. Reason enough to vote Republican next week.