Like a schoolyard taunt, "liar" is echoing across the country as campaigns enter the mean final weeks.
Politics is never pretty but this year's campaigns may be setting a new standard for just plain name-calling in television ads, speeches and handouts.
In California, Rep. Michael Huffington calls Sen. Dianne Feinstein "a liar" for questioning his racial sensitivity.
Meanwhile, Feinstein says Huffington distorts her stand on immigration. "A plain and simple lie," her ad says, quoting newspaper editorials. "Congressman Huffington - He'll say anything to get elected."
Such charges are flying in other races too, as candidates hammer at allegations of deceit and attempt to turn public distrust of politicians into an advantage:
-- In Maine's Senate race, Democratic Rep. Tom Andrews charged Republican Rep. Olympia Snowe in a press release with "the big lie" for claiming to have protected Social Security. Snowe responded with an ad saying Andrews is the one not telling the truth.
-- In Oklahoma's Senate race, Democratic Rep. Dave McCurdy has ads criticizing Republican Jim Inhofe with the slogan, "Trouble with the truth again." He cites a resume discrepancy over Inhofe's college graduation date and personal legal problems.
-- In Virginia, Democratic Sen. Chuck Robb is airing a TV ad with news accounts of conservatives - like Ronald Reagan - criticizing Republican challenger Oliver North. The spot shows headlines like "North Lied," recalling the Iran-contra scandal.
"Why do so many people who have worked with Oliver North say he doesn't tell the truth?" Robb's ad asks.
-- In New York, Gov. Mario Cuomo is airing an ad challenging Republican George Pataki's plan to cut taxes. "Don't believe it," the announcer says.
-- In the House race in North Carolina's 2nd District, Republican David Funderburk accuses Democrat Richard Moore of breaking a promise not to raise taxes as a state legislator. "Richard Moore deceived voters on taxes, just like Bill Clinton," says the ad.
-- In Maryland, Democratic Rep. Steny Hoyer is airing radio ads recalling Republican Don Devine's departure under a cloud from a top Reagan administration job. Again and again, the announcer says, Devine lied.
Negative campaign ads are hardly new. They're being relied on more than ever now because campaigns believe it takes harsher and harsher rhetoric to break through the public's deep cynicism about government and politicians.
And candidates go negative because negative ads indisputably work. They drag the object down in the polls even as people decry the campaign's nasty and negative turn.
"It responds to the mood of the country," says analyst Hastings Wyman. "They are not for much. They are against a whole lot."
"Voters believe it," says Celinda Lake, a Democratic campaign consultant. "Voters believe their own congresspeople could be a crook, and most voters say they all lie."
Tough campaign talk is a bipartisan business. But Republicans charge Democrats rely on it more because they have little else to campaign on, given the low popularity of both Congress and Clinton.
Republican pollster Bill McInturf says incumbent Democratic candidates like Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Feinstein of California, "can't win talking about their record so they're going to . . . try to discredit Republican challengers."
Those incumbents have been under intense attack themselves, however.
Republican Mitt Romney tries to skewer Kennedy with an ad that shows the senator claiming he's tough on crime. "He's got to be kidding," scoffs the GOP ad. "For 32 years Ted Kennedy has repeatedly opposed tough crime measures like the death penalty."
Negative ads can be funny. In Georgia, Democrat Ben Jones mocks Rep. Newt Gingrich in a music video ad called "Newt No!"
And in Tennessee, Democratic Sen. Jim Sasser has shown no issue is too small to attack in his race against GOP surgeon Bill Frist. Sasser's radio ad questions Frist's admission, in an autobiography, that he collected cats from animal shelters while in med school, then cut out their hearts in lab experiments.
Sasser has been under attack for months from Frist: A GOP ad depicts Sasser on Mount Rushmore, along with controversial Democrats like Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, D-Ill., Clinton and Kennedy.
