David Axelrod, Obama's chief strategist, talks about what's next:
``We have not hesitated to draw distinctions between the candidates and we'll continue to do that," said Obama's chief strategist, 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.''
I realize that going negative was really all Clinton had, but I still think it was short-sighted. Despite what she says, the media has been relatively soft on her relative to the way they treated her husband. So long as the campaign was staying positive, it was going to be hard for the media to go dirty. But as Bill Clinton himself has often said, when your opponent hits you, it gives you the chance to hit back without anyone complaining that it was unfair. And once you hit back, the media is free to follow. That's how the game works, and no one knows that better than the Clintons.
If you're going to hit someone, you damn well better knock them out. Because if you don't, and if they are able to get back up and then pummel you into the ground, they'll bring the audience to their feet cheering. Its politics as blood sport, pure and simple.
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