THE US presidential race has become a blood sport, with a family feud over which Democratic candidate was the best person for the job spilling over into a full-blown fight, with punches thrown and a man stabbed.The incident took place last week, when Jose Antonio Ortiz began arguing with his brother-in-law Sean Shurelds about Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, US website The Smoking Gun has reported. Mr Ortiz, 28 is a Clinton supporter. Mr Shurelds, 41, is an Obama man.
The argument began when Mr Shurelds looked Mr Ortiz in the eye and said that Senator Obama was "trashing" the former first lady, in a reference to the 11 straight nominating victories he has had since Super Tuesday. Mr Ortiz fired back with the following comeback: "Obama is not a realist".
The comments apparently enraged each man so much that push came to shove, which then escalated into a full-blown fight - even including a choke-hold. Since the argument was taking place in the kitchen, knives were close at hand and during the melee Mr Shurelds was stabbed in the stomach.
Mr Ortiz has been charged with aggravated assault by Pennsylvania police. Mr Shurelds was taken to hospital in a critical condition.