Kinder, Gentler Character Assassination

The Boston Globe has to admit that the Clinton campaign appears to have developed a split personality. A softer image for Clinton herself, while Clinton's proxy warriors continue the hardball attack politics. Call it Clinton's Jekyll and Hyde campaign.

GRUNDY CENTER, Iowa - Hillary Clinton's campaign is exhibiting signs of a split personality.

Touring Iowa this week, she has criticized Barack Obama only implicitly as she focused on showing a softer picture of herself as a loyal friend and tireless public servant, tearful old friends and grateful constituents by her side.

At the same time, her surrogates and supporters have been increasingly busy sharpening their knives for Obama.

The latest examples: A major union backing Clinton is mailing fliers in Iowa that attack Obama's healthcare plan, but never mention Clinton's name. It quotes John Edwards instead, prompting his campaign to cry foul yesterday. "There have been a lot of misleading tactics and tricks in the last few weeks, but we've just never seen anything like this before," Jennifer O'Malley Dillon, Iowa director for Edwards, said in a statement.

And yesterday, after the New York Times published a story about Obama's record of voting "present," instead of yes or no, while an Illinois state senator, the Clinton campaign organized a conference call for reporters with three disapproving members of Congress.

"We are learning more and more that he took what a lot of us in public life call the easy way out on controversial votes," said Representative Anthony Weiner, Democrat of New York.

Trying to stay above the fray while dispatching surrogates to play the bad cop is a time-tested political strategy. But it is especially striking in the Clinton campaign now because the sharp jabs are such a contrast from the candidate's warm and fuzzy message.

Well, Clinton playing socialist Santa while her buddies wield their shivs is a bit of a contrast. But it shouldn't be a surprise. Clinton is singularly unsuccessful at pulling this off, however. Everyone is seeing through the smokescreen - they know full well that Clinton is calling the shots. I suspect that this has a lot to do with her rapid slide in the polls. She's trying to be too clever by half with these tactics - and the voters are not buying it. Besides, poetry says it all.