you know BB is getting upset when he adds a yawn to his eye roll 
BB, newsflash for you, this isn't anything new in American Politics like you seem to think it is. If anything it's actually toned down from what it was. It's on message boards now, in the 1800's this stuff, "good vs. evil" was often published.
Oh yes, I'm quite upset. lol . . .
The climate has changed. It's true there has been an element of nastiness in politics throughout our history, but that was the exception, not the rule. You should read up on the Lincoln/Douglas debates. There were some personal attacks, but by and large they talked about the issues, and it involved arguably the most controversial issue in American history.
Things really started to spiral during the Clinton years. Do you remember the Clinton Chronicles? A "documentary" accusing Clinton of murdering opponents? There is an article from about 2000 where a guy (and not some crazy nut) wrote an article claiming Bill Clinton was the Anti-Christ.

I have definitely seen a trend the past twenty years.