(CNN) — A visibly angry Sen. Hillary Clinton lashed out Saturday at Sen. Barack Obama over campaign literature that she said he knows is “blatantly false,” while Obama called her outburst “tactical.” Clinton jabbed the air with her hands as she told a crowd in Cincinnati, Ohio, that two Obama mailings spread lies about her positions on universal health care and the North American Free Trade Agreement…. “Shame on you, Barack Obama,” she said. Polls show Clinton and Obama are in statistical dead heats in delegate-rich Ohio and Texas, which both hold votes March 4. With Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland nodding in agreement behind her, Clinton accused Obama of emulating the tactics of Karl Rove, President Bush’s former political director who is reviled by Democrats.
It’s rather sad to see, really; Hillary Clinton is trying so hard to stem the tide that’s turned against her, and it just doesn’t seem to be working. It’s getting to the point where her desperation is showing. Instead of talking about her plans and her qualifications to be the Democratic nominee, she’s taken to calling out Barack Obama in the hope that she can create something- anything- that will give her some traction and stop the bleeding. To see Clinton now is to see her without that bounce in her step, that supreme confidence and the self-assured smile that advertised the ease with which she became and remained the front-runner for so long. My, how things have changed, eh?
Meanwhile, Barack Obama seems to be the picture of self-control. One thing that impresses me so much about him is that, regardless of circumstances, he always seems to have the same demeanor about him. His public persona is much the same as it was when he was trailing Clinton in the polls by 20%. Clinton, meanwhile, seems unable to maintain anything even vaguely resembling equanimity, which to me says an awful lot. While I believe Clinton would be a phenomenal President, her inability to weather choppy seas in this campaign is cause for concern. Yes, she’s emotional, but this goes way beyond mere emotion. This is about her ability to deal with adversity- something that hasn’t impressed me over the past few weeks.
I suppose much of the faux outrage on her part is merely trying to find anything that she can use to bring Obama down to Earth. I seriously doubt the flyers are anything close to what was done to John Kerry in 2004, but in listening to Clinton, you’d think that Obama had accused her of killing small children and drinking their blood.
That Clinton has stooped so far as to compare Barack Obama to Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader © and even invoke Karl Rove only serves to confirm that she’s losing her grip on this race. Yeah, that “inevitability” thing sure worked out well for her, didn’t it?
That fragrance wafting gently on the breeze? That’s what desperation smells like.
