10-27) 19:39 PDT -- With seven days until election day, this is a terrible week to be an undecided voter. The rumor-and-smear mill is in overdrive, and credible, substantive information about the presidential candidates is as rare as a quiet moment on "Hardball."

The happiest Americans right now are the ones who have voted - they no longer have to pay attention.

Many of the attacks flying through the air are reheated versions of attacks that have long been discredited by The Chronicle in its regular "Lies, half-truths outed" feature, other news organizations and independent fact-checking organizations. So despite what voters may hear this week, Barack Obama is a Christian, John McCain is a citizen of the United States, and Sarah Palin never said she can see Russia from her house. That was comedian Tina Fey, who has become almost as famous as Palin by impersonating her on "Saturday Night Live."

Last-minute smear jobs are as old as the American presidency and are rooted in the darkest corners of the human psyche. The smearer usually supports the candidate who is trailing in the polls, analysts said.

"It's consistent with human psychology that people who are behind or feel they have nothing to lose are less risk-averse," said Jack Glaser, an associate professor of public policy at UC-Berkeley and an expert on politics and emotion. "So Sen. McCain and his supporters are throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks.

"They feel that they have less to lose. What's the difference if they lose by 3 points or 6? Of course, those Republicans further down on the ticket might disagree with them," Glaser said.

An e-mail sent by the Pennsylvania Republican Party to 75,000 Jewish voters in Pennsylvania last week warned "Fellow Jewish Voters" of the danger of a second Holocaust and linked it to Obama's possible election.

"Jewish Americans cannot afford to make the wrong decision on Tuesday, November 4th, 2008," the e-mail read. "Many of our ancestors ignored the warning signs in the 1930s and 1940s and made a tragic mistake. Let's not make a similar one this year!"

Paid for by the Republican Federal Committee of PA - Victory 2008, it warned of the danger of a second Holocaust because of threats to Israel by neighboring countries and touted McCain's policies over Obama's.

One of the e-mail's signatories was former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Sandra Schultz Newman, a member of McCain's national task force that is monitoring election day voting. She apologized today.

Glaser said the move could backfire with the target audience.

"Jewish voters are very sensitive to being manipulated by the Holocaust," said Glaser, who is Jewish and whose grandparents were killed in the Holocaust. "And I think these types of attacks will alienate independent voters. From what I've seen, they (the McCain campaign) are just reaching out to their base and making sure it shows up (to vote.)"

Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Joe Biden invoked some of the history of smears today when addressing voters in North Carolina. He mentioned attacks against Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy as a "dangerous choice in difficult times."

"Sound familiar?" Biden asked the audience. "The defenders of the status quo have always tried to tear down those who would change our nation for the better."

Some voters are fighting back. Three dozen workers at an Indiana telemarketing call center quit rather than read a McCain campaign script attacking Obama, the liberal blog TalkingPointsMemo.com reported today. One of the robo calls said that Obama voted against "protecting children from danger" but offered no other specifics.

Even if there is an "October surprise" - a last-minute news event or smear that could affect the outcome of the election - a UC-Berkeley professor who has researched the topic says it might not have much of an impact. Robb Willer, an assistant professor of sociology and a social psychologist, said voters are likely to see last-minute smears for what they are.

"No one should be surprised to see campaigns trailing in the polls flinging mud in the final days," Willer said. "For one, they're desperate. And two, because there isn't much time to refute them."...(SFGate)