Throughout the campaign, we chronicled many incidents of violence against Republican campaign headquarters and Republican campaign workers. The Democrats' willingness to use violence as a campaign tactic, including closely coordinated acts of violence, as when Bush-Cheney headquarters in 16 cities were simulaneously attacked by thugs, is one of the great underreported stories of the 2004 election.

The election is over, but the violence isn't. This report is from Raleigh, North Carolina:

Vandals spray painted vulgar messages on the walls of the North Carolina Republican Party headquarters and left a burned effigy depicting President Bush and Sen. John Kerry, police said.

Authorities detained several suspects early Saturday, hours after the attacks took place Friday night, but had not filed any charges, police spokesman Jim Sughrue said.

A police officer reported Friday that about 100 people wearing masks and gloves were walking down a street near the headquarters, authorities said.

"This is not a political statement,'' Sughrue said. "A political statement is what we made Tuesday. This is a crime.''

Police said at least two windows were broken and it appeared that the vandals tried to put incendiary devices inside of the building.

One problem with loosing the dogs of war is that sometimes it's hard to get them back on the leash. The Democrats may someday regret the campaign when they legitimized violence as a political tactic.

UPDATE: This attack appears to be the work of anarchists. Its relation to the just-ended Presidential campaign is unclear at this point.

Posted by John at 09:13 AM  |    |  

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