In most years, a special House of Representatives election that’s not going to tip power would not get nearly as much attention as this year. With Donald Trump as president, the media, pundits, talking heads, pollsters, and political analysts are diving in deep on these races to see if any of them are a referendum on Trump.

There is an intense focus on the contest between Karen Handel and John Ossoff, the latter taking in tens of millions in donations (most of which is from outside the district) and now there’s some real ugliness surfacing in the form of terrorism.

The Washington Free Beacon has the story:

Police have blocked off Georgia Republican Karen Handel’s neighborhood after reports that letters containing a white powdery substance and calling Handel a “dirty fascist” were left at homes of her neighbors.

Cops have been going from mailbox to mailbox after finding the “suspicious package,” according to local reports, which also indicate that Roswell police continue to flood to the area.

A neighborhood resident posted a picture of the contents of the envelope. She told the Washington Free Beacon that several letters were distributed and that they contained white powder.

The content of the threatening letter, posted below, contains graphic language.

Here is content of letter neighbors say went out in Handel's neighborhood. "Several" went out, says a woman in hoodhttps://t.co/frQGdICBip pic.twitter.com/B0BWku7eEU

— Brent Scher (@BrentScher) June 15, 2017

More here:

The incident comes a day after a politically motivated shooting on Republicans practicing for Thursday’s congressional baseball game.

Among the Republicans targeted by the shooters social media rants was Handel, who was labeled by the man as a “Republican bitch.”

“Republican Bitch Wants People to Work for Slave Wages, when a Livable Wage is the Only Way to Go! Vote Blue, It’s Right for You!” James Hodgkinson wrote on Facebook.

Handel responded to the information about Hodgkinson by saying that it is time to “work together in a civil and productive way.”

“I am aware that the suspect recently made vile comments about me on social media,” Handel said in her statement. “It also appears that the suspect targeted members of Congress specifically because he disagreed with their views.”

Yesterday, before President Trump decided to go off on a Twitter rant, I published a piece where I talked about the possibility of moving beyond the toxic political environment we’re currently living in. Politics has moved beyond being ideological and partisan. It is now, tribal. When the mainstream is ugly, the extremes get more extreme, and that’s what is going on here.

Even if the powder turns out to be harmless (preliminary tests show the powder is baking soda), it’s still terrorism because anybody opening these letters has no clue if the powder is anthrax or something else. The entire block was shut down as police and the FBI conducted their investigation.

It’s an act that deserves the strongest of condemnation, not just from John Ossoff, but from the Democratic National Committee and Democratic leaders in Congress. Unless I am mistaken, Nancy Pelosi nor Chuck Schumer have said a word. The same goes for the DNC.

Some people might argue it’s a ruse, conducted by conservative supporters of Handel, but that’s ridiculous. Especially in the wake of a shooting where Republicans were purposely targeted. None of this is about making one side seem worse than the other. It’s about leaders of the party condemning such actions in the strongest possible terms.

Country over party. For all of us.