NY Times: Hillary Unleashing the "Kitchen Sink"

Team Clinton works in fast and mysterious ways. Yesterday, we had unaffiliated Democratic advisers commenting on how confusing the disjointed attacks that Hillary was making against Obama over the past few days were. Political commentators were saying, seemingly en masse, that such confusion and lack of focus was a sign of a desperate and losing campaign.

But today the New York Times attempts to come to her rescue with a front page story, Clinton Campaign Starts 5-Point Attack on Obama, that claims that the attacks were not a sign of confusion at all, but all part of a planned "5 point strategy". Right. From the article, it appears that the release of the photo showing Obama in native African garb during a visit to the Continent a while back was one of those "points of attack". For Hillary's sake, I hope not, because the photo itself, the implied message, the Clinton campaign non-denial, and Maggie Williams' response to criticism were all laughable. And get a load of this, apparently another "point of attack":

Clinton advisers said the attacks were partly an effort to knock Mr. Obama off balance before the debate on Tuesday.

They also said they were sending a signal to supporters that Mrs. Clinton was still resolutely fighting to win the presidential nomination, despite news reports in recent days about her dispirited campaign operation and her own somber outlook on the race.

To bolster her case at the George Washington speech, Mrs. Clinton stood on stage with a half-dozen retired military officials, including Gen. Wesley K. Clark, who introduced her. “I’m convinced that when the going gets tough, Hillary Clinton will never let America down,” General Clark said.

Message to the Clinton campaign, and to Hillary in particular: After promoting Wesley Clark, despite the fact that he provided the Army tanks and personnel used by Janet Reno in Waco, your husband had to fire him from his position as Supreme Commander of NATO forces during the Bosnian War. With the Bosnian region still a mess - remember, it was the "perfect war" for your administration - it's probably not a good idea to be seen standing next to the fired General on a stage while trying to burnish your foreign policy and war time credentials immediately before a debate. You might get away with this against Obama, but you'd never get away with it against McCain.