WASHINGTON: Sarah Palin, Republican vice presidential candidate, joked this week that “the heels are on and gloves are off.” Conservative observers agree that if Sen. John McCain wants to win the election he should let his self-professed pit bull do all the biting.

Republican presidential candidate McCain confirmed this week that he wants to make the final month of the race a referendum on Barack Obama’s character, background and leadership — a polite way of saying he intends to attack him on all fronts and create or reinforce doubts about him among as many voters as possible.

Palin seems to be more than happy to handle the attack and has surprised many with the viciousness of her tone. This, in turn, appears to have encouraged a response of racism and hatred among some of her audience.

Speaking this week in Florida, Palin told 8,000 fans that Obama “launched his political career in the living room of a domestic terrorist!”

This followed her earlier accusations that the Democrat pals around with terrorists. “This is not a man who sees America the way you and I see America,” she told a Florida crowd. “I’m afraid this is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to work with a former domestic terrorist who had targeted his own country.” The crowd replied with boos.

But what has some observers concerned is that her attacks on Obama, and even the media, has begun to spill into ugliness.

Turning the focus of her lackluster television interview with Katie Couric last week, Palin blamed Couric’s questions for her “less-than-successful interview with kinda mainstream media.”

At that, many at the Republican rally turned on reporters in the press area, waving thunder sticks and shouting abuse. Others hurled abuse at a camera crew.

In regards to the visceral effect Palin is having on supporters, one Palin supporter shouted a racial epithet at an African-American sound man for a network and told him, “Sit down, boy.”

Most notably, when attacking Obama for his alleged links — at the age of 8 — to the 1960s Weather Underground, she accused the group of “launching a campaign of bombing that would target the Pentagon and our US Capitol.”

“Kill him!” proposed one man in the audience. Palin did not stop to admonish the man who had made the frightening, racist remark — she ignored him.

Next, she accused Obama of “not liking soldiers.”

“He said that our troops in Afghanistan are just ‘air-raiding villages and killing civilians,’” she said, drawing boos from a crowd that had not been told Obama was actually appealing for more troops in Afghanistan.

In August 2007, Obama brought up Afghanistan when asked whether he would withdraw troops from Iraq to fight terrorism elsewhere. “We’ve got to get the job done there, and that requires us to have enough troops so that we’re not just air-raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous pressure over there,” he said.

Civilian casualties have been an issue in Afghanistan, so much so that Defense Secretary Robert Gates last month apologized for US airstrikes that have killed civilians.

McCain is under increasing pressure to do something to turn around his campaign. Polls in five key battleground states in the race for the White House released yesterday suggest that Obama is making major gains.

The CNN/Time magazine/Opinion Research Corp. polls of likely voters in Indiana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin reflect a significant nationwide shift toward the Democratic presidential nominee.

It certainly gives Obama an advantage in the race when Americans say they trust him more to deal with the economy, an issue that now trumps all other concerns.

Even the conservative Washington Times has apprehensions about the Republican attacks, saying in yesterday’s lead editorial: “Going negative could be viewed as desperation by voters.”

“There are plenty of issues that can be used to tear down the façade of leadership Mr. Obama presents,” noted the Washington Times, adding: but “There is an alternative. Mr. McCain could simply debate Mr. Obama on the issues.”

“... But if Mr. McCain attempts to simply impugn Mr. Obama’s character — which he said he would not do — that would mean reneging on his word,” noted the paper.