War room games

The Clinton's have always had a tough war room. They can play the politics of personal destruction while claiming to be a victim at the same time. Some of this was on show this week when they directed more attention to a Maureen Dowd column that it would ever get behind the Times Select firewall, by complaining about something a Hollywood mogul said about Bill and Hillary's ability to dissemble, i.e. lie.

It is not the first time it has been said. Former Sen. Bob Kerry said Clinton was an unusually good lier back when he was still President. Others have also mentioned that Clinton would pars the word "is" to wiggle out of his attempts to deceive.

So on the central issue of the moguls statement, they asked Sen. Obama to apologize for what a financial supporter said and Obama with some skill avoided the question.

The irony here is that the war rooms that are keyed for rapid response to any charge magnified a problem for both sides. Wretchard at the Belmont club comments:

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Roger Simon thinks that whatever else may be true, politicians believe in winning. And Geffen laid into Hillary because he believed she was unelectable. But in this kind of calculus, the actual character of the candidate and the platform's effect on national security and welfare proves secondary to the main goal of winning the election. Geffen was her pal, glad to sing her praises, for so long as she could win. But now Geffen lets us in on the secret of what she is really like. Now we know the truth, don't we? One of the most famous logical problems of antiquity was the Cretan Paradox. Cretan philosopher Epimenides declared "all Cretans are liars," and he of course was a Cretan. It is now often referred to as the "Liar's Paradox". Now Geffen, like the ancient Cretan, tells us that "Obama is inspirational." Well I'm glad that he is.

It is interesting what inspires some people. Obama is a liberal with mediocre ideas who some finding interesting because he had a black father. He is wrong on the war and wrong on most social issues, but he seems to be a charming guy. He sort of reminds you of our first black President, Bill Clinton.

Peggy Noonan says Geffen should be prepared for the Clinton treatment:

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Mr. Geffen should be braced for a lot of bad personal box office--negative press, searching profiles, strained relations. We're probably about to see if the Clinton Machine can flatten him. Little doubt it will try. John Dickerson wrote in Slate this week of Bill Clinton's generously sharing his campaign wisdom: "Your opponent can't talk when he has your fist in his mouth." Among some Democratic political professionals this kind of talk is considered tough and knowing, as opposed to, say, startlingly belligerent and crude.

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The approach was pretty effective against Newt Gingrich and other Republicans. It also worked pretty well against Giuliani in the first Senate campaign. But now the media is talking about it which means it will start to lose some of its ability to choke an opponents message.