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Here in the midwest, it's rampant. I know lots of otherwise intelligent, rational people who fall for this crap hook, line and sinker. A handful watch too many movies, a handful are closet conspiracy theorists, a handful work too hard to pay attention to anything but the loudest and most outrageous soundbites. Some folk, like my otherwise adorable mother, just don't trust anything that's different than the relatively sheltered world they've built for themselves.
It's hard to be a responsible voter. To be truly informed about any candidate takes a great deal of time, energy and research. When Joe and Jane Public are trying to pay the mortgage and get the kids to soccer, there's not a lot of time to sit down and really follow what our government does. It takes a concerted effort even to fact check SOME of the information that is streamed at us from every direction. I think it's irresponsible (and more than a little judgmental) to write off people who believe the BS as "stupid." Trying to out shout the red noise with blue noise just makes more noise.
I think the people in this thread who spoke of replying to the smearmails with facts have the right idea. Hand-wringing, name calling and pissing contests make all of us look like assholes.
