Between Barack and a Hard Place

This is not an easy time to be Barack Obama.

He has aides caught in what they thought were off-the-record statements calling Hillary Clinton a "monster" who will do anything to win, and Clinton aides are comparing Obama to Ken Starr. When asked if Obama was a Muslim, Hillary hedged, saying that he wasn't "as far as I know." The Hillary Slime Machine is in full force, attempting to do what they can to drag Obama down to the level of the Clintons. She's even suggesting that as far as national security goes, McCain woulf be preferable to Obama. Can't wait to see that turn up in a Republican ad this fall.

Ironically enough, this has the effect of proving Samantha Powers, the Obama aide who called Clinton a "monster," to be more or less correct. Clinton will do anything to get elected -- and that's what some Democrats want. They're tired of seeing their candidates go down to defeat after being swiftboated by Republican hacks -- they want to do their own swiftboating.

This mindset was explicated for me by a highly intelligent friend I spoke with the other day. They see Clinton as vicious and unprincipled but they see Obama as another Jimmy Carter -- too soft to be president. To get anything done, this argument goes, you have to be an unprinicipled vicious son of a bitch -- which, they claimed, Clinton has proven herself to be.

The problem with this argument is that it placed Obama in an untenable position. If he doesn't respond to Clinton's scummy attacks, he's a wimp and not suited to be president. If he does respond in kind, then he's a phony and doesn't deserve to be president.

He loses either way. Gotta love these Clintons. They'll do whatever it take, no matter how slimy it is. Winning is everything.

Bob Herbert in the Times offers a hint as to how Obama should respond:

Whatever anger and frustration he may be feeling, he should stick to the high road. He can’t win wrestling in the mud with Hillary Clinton. That will not put Barack Obama in the White House. Mr. Obama’s strength was his message of hope and healing, the idea that he could bring disparate groups together to work on the nation’s toughest problems. That has gotten him this far, which is much further than almost anyone expected.

He now needs an added dimension. He needs to articulate a vision. He needs to spell out to voters where he wants to take this country over the next few years, how he will alleviate the suffering of millions trapped in vicious economic circumstances and what he will do to restore the honor and prestige of the U.S. around the world.

It would be nice to see that happen. But in order for that to happen he can prove he can respond to the Clintons and their slimy attacks without getting covered in mud himself. That's not going to be easy. President Eisenhower, in a similar situation regarding Senator Joe McCarthy, once famously said that he "wasn't going to get into the gutter with this guy."

Unfortunately, that might not be an option for Barack Obama.

Tom Moran