Things are gettin’ tetchy on the Republican side of Campaign 2012. Today found Attorney General candidate Jack “Six Teats” McMullen throwing a Hail Mary in the form of an unprecedented court filing; and yesterday, we had gubernatorial candidate Randy Brock putting out the most negative ad of the year in Vermont, on the day after we narrowly escaped major storm damage — and at a time when neighboring states are still suffering from the effects of Superstorm Sandy. Tasteless? You make the call.

McMullen, dissatisfied with the pace of action on an evidence-free Republican charge of collusion between Attorney General Bill Sorrell’s campaign and a national Super PAC, today filed a court petition seeking a hearing within 24 hours on the charges. The filing comes under a provision in state election law allowing a candidate to request immediate court action on campaign-law violations in the days before an election.

I’d pause here to note that the alleged violations didn’t happen this week or last week; they happened in August. The fact that McMullen waited so long to make this dramatic move seems designed for maximum heat and minimum light. In other words, even if a court immediately hears his case, what chance is there of wrapping up the case before next Tuesday? None, I’d say.

Which leads me to conclude that McMullen’s true goal is to get maximum publicity in the last days of the campaign. He doesn’t care whether the charges are true or not; he’s just hoping to get some political gain out of making them.

After the jump: Desperation, Randy-style.

The same is true of Randy Brock’s last-minute request for an insane quantity of state documents, filed six business days before the election. Brock admits he has no evidence, just some stuff that people have told him. The truth: He doesn’t want a thorough airing of these charges; he just wants to be able to make them over and over again.

Which leads to Brock’s latest campaign commercial, a vile piece of propaganda straight out of the Karl Rove playbook. And released on Tuesday — one day after Vermont almost suffered a catastrophe with Superstorm Sandy. And on a day when New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, and other nearby states are dealing with real, deadly, and still-worsening states of emergency.

It’s borderline offensive to release such a negative ad on a day like yesterday. Politicians with some taste and discretion have eased back on the throttle for a decent interval. But not Randy. Hey, the ad was already produced and ready to go, the ad buys had probably been made, and there’s less than a week before the election. So damn the state of emergency, full speed ahead.

Another sign of real desperation on the Republican side. Desperation so deep and abiding that it overrides decent Republicans’ sense of propriety.