Clinton's Taking the Shine Off

Hillary goes negative in her new ad, "Pocket." A nice opening salvo going into tonight's debate. She, like the rest of us, gets the feeling the shine is off the Messiah, and she's determined to keep battering him.

Of course, things are not exactly sliding in her favor in poll numbers lately. A recent Pennsylvania poll shows her lead slipping, though she's holding onto leads among women, union households, and Catholics. And, one has to wonder how well the attack will play with the public, considering fulling 58 percent of them consider her untrustworthy at this point, 16 points higher than her pre-campaign numbers, and 23 points behind Obama on this attribute.

Obama, for his part, plays the same old part in his new ad, "Represent." He calls the furor his own idiotic comments about rural voters a "distraction" (everything's a distraction), and calls upon Hill to play nice. It's bland and standard Obama fare, but it's nice. He remains the nice guy and she remains the bully. Although, Deceiver is calling him a hair-splitter today,

The problem with his act, of course, is that in the general election, this "Kumbaya" song is going to look tired, ineffectual, and wimpy next to John McCain's willingness to actually talk about issues. The contrast will be further illustrated as McCain takes question after challenging question at town hall after town hall while Obama continues to hide from media and avoid interrogation. Platitudes alone may work against one of the more hated women in America, but they're not going to work against the much more likeable and prepared McCain.