Yet another truly disappointing move by Republicans…today, I received an e-mail from my friend Samir with an update from Minnesota:

I’m working on one of the most hotly contested congressional races in the country for a guy [Ashwin Madia] who – if elected – would be the only Indian-American in Congress.

Ashwin is a veteran of the Marine Corps, the Iraq war, and the JAG corps. He’s running what sounds like an awesome, positive, issue-driven campaign.  And it’s working – polls have shown him narrowly ahead of his Republican opponent in MN-3, incumbent Erik Paulsen.

So in a turn to negative campaigning of (in my opinion) the most unacceptable kind, the National Republican Campaign Committee has put out an ad against Ashwin in which experts say his skin tone was deliberately darkened.  Watch the local news coverage below:

The question is – and this of course is the exact same one that will be answered in the presidential race – is whether the Republicans are effective in manipulating voters with implicit racial arguments of this kind.

I have gotten pretty upset by story after story of racist campaigning, homophobic attacks (e.g. Prop 8 in CA!) and threats about the risks “extreme liberals/Socialists” getting elected.  BUT,  I try not to worry too too much during these last few days of the campaign, to have HOPE, and to think positively.  I am so heartened to see Samir in MN and friends across the country who have traveled to places like Georgia, Minnesota, Georgia, and Pennsyvania to see this race through to the end.  And yes, I am being unapologetically cheesy tonight.  Seriously though – it’s GOTV weekend, and I’m sending everyone all my best!