HRC lashed out at Barack Obama today for using a strategy out of “Karl Rove’s playbook” by making speeches of hope while sending Ohioans what she called “false and discredited mailings” on health care and trade policy.

There’s a good analysis at FactCheck.org which concludes the direct mail piece "… lacks a good amount of context and could mislead those who are not familiar with Clinton’s plan." The mailer also includes a quote from The Daily Iowan:

“forcing those who cannot afford health insurance to buy it through mandates … punishing those who don’t fall in line with fines.”

Again from FactCheck.org: "Obama doesn’t tell readers that this is a college newspaper written and edited by University of Iowa students. That’s not to say it’s wrong, but a student newspaper carries less authority than a professionally written and edited major U.S. daily."

That’s chicken shit BO, not at all what your supporters expect from you. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt on this one. Maybe you didn’t see this flier before it went out, but that’s no excuse. Just give us the facts and we’ll decide who has the better plan.

Good story in the NYT on spending by the Clinton and Obama campaigns. The focus seems to be the mis-management of spending by the HRC camp. But this little nugget caught my eye:

“Mr. Obama broadcast 3,000 more advertisements than she did, and he was able to air those ads not only in the states that were immediately up for grabs but also in contests on Feb. 5 and beyond. Mr. Obama spent nearly $480,000 on 1,331 spots in Missouri; he won the state’s primary, a closely fought contest and a national political bellwether, by one percentage point.”

No matter who wins, this campaign will be sliced and diced and examined for years to come.

Hey, nobody is more surprised than I by my political awakening. My fear simply overcame my cynicism. But hang on, it’s almost over and I see four possible outcomes:

1. Hillary gets the nomination and wins the White House. We’ve already seen what a Clinton administration looks like.
2. McClain wins in November and gives us four more years of Bush.
3. Obama gets the nomination and wins in November (long shot). But turns out to be like every other politician to plop his ass down in the Oval Office.
4. Obama gets the nomination, wins in November and delivers on some of his promise of change. (Long, long shot)

If any of the first three occurs, I’m done. We missed our chance. Maybe the last one for good long while. If #4 comes in… I’ll rent Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Dave and then shut the fuck up.

MSNBC is airing an episode of their Headliners and Legends series from October 20, 1999. It’s a profile of Hillary Rodham Clinton. It’s accurate, as far as I know, and so flattering it could have been produced by her campaign. I tried –unsuccessfully– to find it online.

I’m watching and thinking, “Wow! You couldn’t buy that kind of publicity.” Then it hits me. Is NBC doing damage control?

“Hillary Rodham Clinton on Saturday morning ripped MSNBC over reporter David Shuster’s suggestion that Chelsea Clinton was “sort of being pimped out” by the campaign.

The Clinton campaign immediately demanded an apology and floated the possibility that Clinton would no longer participate in an MSNBC debate, scheduled for Feb. 26. The campaign did not explain under what conditions Clinton would participate in MSNBC’s debate.” — The Politico:

How about if NBC runs an hour-long special in the middle of a hotly contested primary campaign? This pre-empts the regularly scheduled programming, a show called Deadly Encounter.

How flattering was this profile? I’m voting for Obama but this segment had me thinking that HRC might be a good president. I’m okay now, but for a few minutes….

Arianna Huffington on Tuesday night’s speeches:

“As luck, and poor scheduling, would have it, Barack Obama and John McCain gave their Super Tuesday victory speeches at roughly the same time last night, causing cable news directors across the dial to go split-screen, then finally jump from the tail end of McCain’s speech to the first part of Obama’s.

The overlapping oratories could not have been more dramatically different. One soared; the other plodded. One caused goose bumps; the other caused eyelids to flutter shut. One felt newly minted; the other could have been given by Herbert Hoover (and maybe was).

For some reason, I kept picturing a singer like Perry Como standing in the wings during the old Ed Sullivan show, watching the Beatles hit the stage, and thinking: “What do I do now?” or “Oh. My. God.” or “The world just changed, didn’t it?” or “Toto, I’ve got a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.”