Editorial: Ugly campaign gets uglier

"This has always been a tough business. And when passions flair, ugliness is sometimes inevitable. But we shouldn't accept ugliness as the norm. We should demand better from ourselves and from one another." - House Speaker Paul Ryan, March 23.

Clearly Donald Trump missed Paul Ryan's memo.

Yes, we have reached one of the lowest points of this presidential campaign - and that's saying something - with Trump's unprecedented assault this week on a rival's wife. With terrorists on the loose and wounded Americans lying in Belgian hospitals, his tantrum represents an obscene distraction.

Kicking off the nonsense was an anti-Trump super PAC, which released an ad with a provocative photo of Trump's wife suggesting she is unfit to be first lady. It was vulgar and offensive, so naturally Trump responded in kind.

He threatened to "spill the beans" on Ted Cruz's wife (it wasn't Cruz's ad) who has struggled with depression. Now he has circulated an unflattering photograph of Heidi Cruz next to a glamorous one of his own wife. "The images," read the meme created by a Trump supporter, "are worth a thousand words."

Not only is your wife a political liability, Trump seems to be suggesting, she's unattractive, too.

Ryan insists we're better than this. Could have fooled us