Spin Cycle

Well, there are already a couple of signs of where this is going from the Obama camp.

Obama says on his plane he's going to go after Clinton's credentials, in obvious response to her 3 am ad: “Over the coming weeks we will join her in that arguement. Was she negotiating treaties? Was she handling crisis? The answer is ‘no.’”

And, in an obvious response to Clinton's effort to splash Rezko mud, Obama advisor David Axelrod:

"If Sen. Clinton wants to take the debate to various places, we'll join that debate. We'll do it on our terms and in our own way, but if she wants to make issues like ethics and disclosure and law firms and real estate deals and all that stuff issues, as I've said before, I don't know why they'd want to go there, but I guess that's where they'll take the race.''

Commodity trades, anyone? Foreclosing and taking the downpayments of people who missed payments on their Whitewater lots? Hugging Suha Arafat? How were those commutations arranged for Hillary's Rockland County Hasidic supporters? How about Denise Rich and Marc Rich and the Clinton library? Unanswered questions galore.

Mark the turning point: Clinton was losing, so she decided to bait the press, peddle stories about Rezko and Chicago radicals, and run ads with sleeping children in shadowy rooms. Now, both Democrats will rip apart each other's non-existent national security credentials to the great glee of the GOP, and tear apart each other's ethics, also to the glee of the other party.

They pretend to want to talk about the issues. But when the issues aren't winning, they turn to the garbage. She employs people who aren't so interested in doing what's right, or even what's good for the party -- just whatever'll help you win. Apparently, now, so does Obama.

Update: Here's a fuller quote from Obama, which spells out even more clearly the terrain into which Clinton has pushed the race:

From Politico: "I hope people start asking is what exactly is this foreign experience she is claiming. Was she handling crises during this period of time? I haven’t seen any evidence that she is more equipped to handle a crisis.

Also: "She made the experience argument and her ability to handle a crisis, so I think it is important to examine that claim and not just allow her to assert it," he added. "She has made the argument that she is thoroughly vetted. If the suggestion is somehow that on issue of ethics or disclosure or transparency that she is somehow going to have a better record than I have or could (better) withstand Republican attack, then that should be tested."