Rudeness as a power ploy

We have all heard the lawyers' statement that when your argument lacks merit, pound the table. Increasingly, beginning with Lloyd Bentsen's insult of Dan Quayle, the slap to the cheek employed as a political tactic has been used with good effect by the Democrats in particular. For some reason it doesn't seem to be working quite as well of late. Perhaps it is the players themselves who are less persuasive, repellent as they are. Just in recent days Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid has egregiously insulted President Bush, Allen Greenspan, and various Bush nominees including Judge Henry Saad as noted.
Reid lacks charisma or even charm. He appears meanspirited and small, and anything but senatorial.
It may also be that people are finding many sources for their information and opinions besides the mainstream media, and that they are making more informed judgments. I look forward to the complete disregard of hubris as a debating tool, and the need instead for substantiated facts when people's reputations are being discussed and their futures decided.