Spooked?

It must be Halloween, because the fright-themed political barbs are flying like bats.

The Republicans say the country should fear the Democrats. The Democrats say the country should fear the Republicans. The Democrats and Republicans also say the country should fear their primary opponents. And that's before we even get to UFOs.

John Edwards, one of the Clinton-slayers in last night's Democratic debate in Philadelphia, has a new bogeyman today: Republican Rudy Giuliani, whose presidency, Edwards's campaign suggests in a fund-raising letter, would be a "nightmare on Pennsylvania Avenue." In this dystopian vision of the future, Giuliani brings Karl Rove and Donald Rumsfeld back into action, escalates President Bush's policies at home and abroad, and even installs his brother, Jeb, as vice president. Boo!

But wait, weren't we supposed to be scared of the equivocating Hillary Clinton first? Well, the Edwards solicitation stirs up fear about her, too. "Polls show that with candidates other than John Edwards at the top of the Democratic ticket, Democrats will have a tough time defending the blue states and winning the swing states we'll need to take the White House in 2008," his deputy campaign manager, Jonathan Prince, writes. "We could even lose our majorities in Congress!"

So to recap, whom to be afraid of? Take your pick.