Democrats locally and nationally are regurgitating the same script as the elections near and their candidates falter: All Republicans are Neanderthals who wish to control women’s bodies and, if they can’t keep them out of the workplace, at least they want to make sure they aren’t equally paid.

You can see it in the attacks on Romney-Ryan, on Scott Brown in Massachusetts, and on Ovide Lamontagne here in New Hampshire.

It is all a cold political calculation that if enough mud is thrown at the opponents, voters will somehow ignore the fact that the throwers really have nothing positive to offer.

What the Republicans object to is forcing private companies to pay for sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs and for taxpayers to have to fund the nation’s biggest provider of abortions: Planned Parenthood.

Locally, one senses the near-desperation of the Maggie Hassan camp.

Its liberal candidate’s tax-and-spend record having been thoroughly exposed, Camp Hassan is targeting Lamontagne for his unwavering defense of the right to life. (We don’t agree with Lamontagne’s opposition to capital punishment, but we have to admire his consistency here.)

Lamontagne has done a good job of defending his positions and of staying focused on the real issues facing New Hampshire: Job-deflating business taxes, the work still needed to clean up the deficit Hassan and friends ran up; and the fiscal cliff that school-funding court mandates are about to drive us over.

Further attempts to smear Lamontagne at the 11th hour should not surprise New Hampshire voters, who know him to be a decent and honorable man who has given years of volunteer service to his community. But desperate politicians do desperate things. Halloween goblins won’t be the only thing trying to scare people this week.