Clinton's tactics are smart against Obama

Why is Hillary’s enforcer, Howard Wolfson, shooting Barack Obama in the kneecaps over David Geffen’s criticism of his candidate?

Hillary and her boys realize that all that Obama has to sell is his purity. He’s like Evian Water. He has no particular taste, he just is the un-cola — the opposite of the vicious, destructive, partisan politics that pervades our country and turns off the voters. Purity is a high standard, particularly for a politician, especially for one who is running against a Clinton. And purity is the easiest thing to sully. Just a drop of ink in a bottle of Evian makes it undrinkable. So what Wolfson and Hillary are trying to do is to pollute Obama with the remarks of his supporter to show that Barack is just like the rest of ‘em — a politician after all. The Wolfson attack is good strategy. It is designed to bring the Obama candidacy back to earth.

Ultimately, the attack will work. Not the first time Wolfson bites an Obama supporter who criticizes Hillary. Nor the second, nor the third, nor the fifth or tenth. But, eventually, after the charge is repeated dozens of times against anyone who criticizes the senator and is backing Obama, the American public will realize the truth: that no U.S. senator, even Barack Obama, is a virgin and that it is not enough to be inoffensive and pure if you want to be president. You need some affirmative positions on issues as well.

Then Obama will face the real test of his candidacy: getting off the feature pages and onto the news pages. He will need to take strong positions, issue programs, and wade into substantive controversies if he wants us to vote for him. A biography and a philosophy aren’t enough.

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