Campaigns Getting Out of Control?

After President Barack Obama's visit to support incumbant Senator Patty Murray (Democrat) at the University of Washington earlier this week; the duo was faced with a crowd of over 10,000 people in the Huskey Basketball Arena on Campus. It is said that Murray is in a tight knit race with Republican Candidate Dino Rossi, and that in the next couple, the race could get even tighter (The New York Times).
 In the article "Shady, negative television ads muck up campaign season" published by The Seattle Times on the 22nd of October, 2010 at 2:07pm via their online website; they stated that the race towards the U.S. Senate in the state of Washington was getting a bit out of hand through the "donations" that both candidates were receiving from special interest groups and from the private business sector. "Ads in Washington's U.S. Senate race in which candidates disclose that either Murray or Republican Dino Rossi approved them, or even those by specific Republican or Democratic campaign committees, provide valuable context" (The Seattle Times). Even though these over played commercials provide this "valuable context", what is it really saying to the families in Western Washington? Is it telling them the reality that surround the candidates in their personal lives?
The Seattle Times also stated in the same article: "The difference this year is voluminous spending by outside groups that do not have to say who they are. So the uninitiated viewer watches in horror as the two Senate candidates are portrayed as Darth Vader and the Wicked Witch of the West. How appropriate that Halloween is next week (The Seattle Times). As someone who has viewed numerous commercials by both candidates, this is how they are trying to portray each other in front of their communities and in front of their "supporters" the Washington State public.