At no time in recent memory can we recall a presidentialcampaign as vicious as the present contest between President Bushand Sen. John Kerry.

Even the heated 2000 race between then-Texas Gov. George W. Bushand then-Vice President Al Gore was, by most measures, a civilcampaign. It was only after the ballots were cast and counted – andthen recounted – that things started to turn ugly.

Perhaps that, in part, has led us to where we are today, wheredebating policy and sharing visions for America have given way topartisan rhetoric and rancor, name-calling and downright dirtytricks. The emotions that welled up on both sides during theFlorida recount of 2000 have never died. They have only festered,with one side still – nearly four years later – calling intoquestion the legitimacy of the president’s election and the otherside seemingly bemused but put off by their “spoiled sport”attitude.

That the 2000 race was so close as to depend on a few hundredballots cast in one state says much about the state of our nationtoday, where “red states” and “blue states” lay almost equal claimto the political landscape.

Even Congress itself is closely divided, with 228 Republicansand 210 Democrats in the House and 51 Republicans, 48 Democrats andone independent (aligned with the Democrats) in the Senate. Ofcourse, this means the stakes are high, as the shifting of just afew seats in either chamber would throw control to from one partyto another.

With the nation and the government so closely divided and withthe stakes so high, perhaps we should understand why civility goesout the window.

But we don’t.

Vice President Dick Cheney reflected Tuesday in his debate withSen. John Edwards on a time that politicians, regardless of partyaffiliation, could work with one another and even call each other”friend.”

“It’s a disappointment, in a sense,” the vice president said,”that I remember from my earlier service when things worked muchdifferently, when, in fact, some of my best friends in the Congresswere people I worked with, like Tom Foley.”

Foley, the Washington state Democrat and former speaker of theHouse, agreed, telling the Seattle Post-Intelligencer last weekthat it wasn’t unusual for Republicans and Democrats to be onfriendly terms when he and Cheney served together in the House.

“Tensions were not absent,” he said, “but they were a totallydifferent dimension from what they are today.

Along with the vice president, we long for the time whenpolitics meant a spirited – but civil – debate of the issues.

While emotions certainly run high where political and socialissues are involved, there is no excuse for the kind of campaignthe American people have endured this year. Such vitriolic hatredhas no place in American politics, or in American society as awhole.

From the Swift Boat Veterans and Michael Moore to candidatesBush and Kerry themselves – who have themselves been guilty thiscampaign season of throwing sniping remarks the other’s way – wemust say enough is enough. This is no way to run a campaign.

It may be too late for this campaign season, but American votersmust demand candidates and their supporters to get the hatred outof their systems in this election cycle and resolve to do betternext time around.