And if she does, she'll be criticized for "swiftboating" Obama because what he really meant was blah blah blah  ...

Waiting...

In spite of 15 years of experience to the contrary, he apparently believes that if only Democrats would just try to get along with Republicans, we could solve all of our problems. Reality? The only times Republicans are interested in bi-partisanship are those times when they are in the minority.

Now all any wagon-circling, rubber-stamping Repug incumbent tip-toeing backwards away from Bush has to do is work a group hug with McCain into their campaign ads and run Obama's sound over it.

And how does he make the case to Republicans and independents that they should vote for him, and not McCain, if what people are looking for is someone better than Bush?

This is what he will do as President.

But a Dem candidate shouldn't say that!  Half of the Dems' appeal to moderates/swing voters is that people are sick and tired of George W. Bush.

To win this election, Dems will probably have to win over moderates and independents, some of whom are leaning Republican (especially conservative independents who see McCain as somewhat like them).  Telling them that McCain is better than Bush is exactly what they need to hear to justify voting for McCain.  We've had a lot of Republican presidents, and most haven't left the country shouldering the kind of burden that George W. Bush has left us.  It's perfectly rational to believe that McCain would be better than Bush, even if he says (on the campaign trail) that he has many of the same positions.

On the other side, I am increasingly getting the idea that Sen. Obama is immature.  His comments about Sen. Clinton suffering from PMS and flipping the middle finger while talking about her are juvenile.  His refusal to admit that he was wrong about his "cling" remarks is juvenile.  Conceding that Sen. McCain is better than Bush is a rookie mistake.

Sen. McCain, when he first got to the Senate, was very partisan and did not work well at all with Democrats.  He thought he was there to carry the GOP flag.  He has matured (a lot--he's "older than dirt").  Sen. Clinton has been through Washington before.  Her husband compromised a great deal--maybe she thinks a little too much.  But she knows all about compromising to get things done.  Sen. Obama, on the other hand, is "100% liberal," a charge that McCain can make against him and can make stick with enough voters to matter.

She said he was more experienced than Obama.

to argue otherwise would be transparently stupid, something sen. clinton is not. the issue isn't whether or not sen. mccain is more experienced than sen. obama, of course he is. the issue is whether or not he'd be better as president than sen. clinton or sen. obama.

no, of course he wouldn't, and sen. clinton never implied, stated or otherwise hinted that to be the case.

That's why dems need to campaign on issues because McCain is wrong on all issues. This was the point she hammered today. Fortunately Obama gave her the lead in to start making that argument.

People will claim he's a smart campaigner if he beats Hillary. But the truth is, from the beginning, he's been campaigning as if defeating Hillary was more important than winning in November.

This is the great weakness of the Obama "movement" -- it HAS been fueled more by aniomosity toward, and desire to smite, "the Clintons," and the kind of people who might support them, than anger at or rejection of Bush and the Republicans.

The problem with this will become painfully apparent once Hillary is out of the picture.