How ugly will it get?

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has been the GOP’s vice presidential candidate for less than two weeks, and she’s already taken major hits from Hollywood players like Whoopi Goldberg, Alec Baldwin, Annette Bening and Jamie Lee Curtis.

Fair debate is fine. But the aforementioned actors chimed in with jabs that were either weak, immaterial or downright vicious.

So how far will it go? Is Hollywood only warming up?

Sen. john McCain is up in the polls, for the first time, by as little as a few points or as much as 10 depending on which one you trust. I fear Hollywood players will only crank up their rhetoric if that trend continues.

It reminded me of some sage advice I heard on Dr. Drew’s “Loveline” program a few years ago.

Stick with me for a moment.

The good doctor was telling listeners why he doesn’t over-hype the negative effect of marijuana to help convince teens not to use it. If you feed people misinformation, he argued, they won’t trust you when you tell them the truth.

In a way, the same holds true to politics. If celebrities truly want to sway the public, they need to dial down the rumors and silly arguments and stick to the facts. Then they have a chance of affecting the electorate.

I suspect those speaking out against the McCain/Palin ticket don’t have the restraint to do just that.