Randy, another reason personal attacks hurt FT: word of mouth.
For example, back in 2000, there was a positive review of FT left on epinions.com from someone who (looking in the right margin of the review) says that his FT name is "Don" from Connecticut (which FT member is the "left-wing member from Connecticut" I was referring to in my post earlier in the thread). Don was chased away from FT by personal attacks last summer.
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">This site is perhaps the best friend on the Internet to airline passengers -- from heavy-hitter corporate types who do trans-Pacific routes in First Class a dozen times a year, all the way down to folks who only fly once each summer to visit Aunt Maude in Des Moines...
Best of all, they're friendly folks who'll respond with good information when you send a polite, sensible question by e-mail. The site is free, registration is free -- there's really nothing to buy. It's easy to maneuver through the different boards, and a great place to get educated about the lastest tips on free airfare for the Hawaiian vacation you want.</font>
http://www.epinions.com/trvl-review-...39EE500D-prod5
(bolding mine)
Would he say that today? My guess is no.