I actually knew her. She was not a malignant person. It is human nature to want to believe something that reinforces our bias. She believed the rumour and felt it important to "protect" the community, but did not verify the rumour. You only have to read this forum to see all the slander directed at politicians such as Sheer, Trudeau, Goodale, Svend Robinson etc. In this particular instance, the NDP'er apologized to the Tory candidate in person and publicly.
The lesson is, it is acceptable to disagree with a person's politics but don't make it a personal attack. Politics, like in sport, i