I think that your comparison is seriously flawed. As for fear, huh? The last time that I checked, "fear" is used as a political motivator a lot more often than in war-time. Unless, of course, Republicans really do want to throw our senior citizens out on the street, starve our children, enslave our minorities, and chain our women to the dish-washer.
Politics is politics. Instead of berating one side or the other for "playing dirty", when they all do, let's talk about ways to clean it up.