G. Frink's

In a marked departure today, Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain asked supporters to treat Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama with respect:

There's a difference between rhetoric and record, but you can still be respectful. I will point out his record and I will do it with respect.

Later McCain rejected the politics of fear to say that Obama is a "decent person."

The Boston Globe reported:

McCain was booed at a town-hall meeting here when he rebuked a man who said he was "scared to bring a child up" under an Obama presidency. "I have to tell you he is a decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared of as president of the United States," McCain said to audible disapproval.

Video of part of the interaction was posted by Talking Points Memo:

This is a most welcome change, even though we have yet to see what if any effect it has on the excesses of Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin and on the tenor of ads run by the McCain campaign.