Shenanigans Your weekly presidential intake

Author: Alex Garlick

When you woke up this morning, were you wondering if there could be yet another presidential election column in this space? Say it with me, "YES WE CAN!" Anyway, Tuesday, March 4 is setting up to be the Super-est Tuesday since … Super Tuesday. Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont (!) may be the last chance for former First Lady Hillary Clinton to stop the Barack Obama express. Even Bill admits that Hillary is backed into a corner, but that could be bad news for Barack. The Clintons are best when their backs are against the political wall. Remember when Hillary lost Iowa and her early front-runner status? Out came the tears and emotion in New Hampshire and with them a shocking primary win.

Now, less than a week away from Hillary's last stand, the Drudge Report posts a photo of Barack Obama in traditional Sunni Muslim garb in Somalia that allegedly was circulating within the Clinton campaign. How does the Clinton campaign react? Hillary offers a non-denial denial saying, "I know nothing about it," but was careful not to accuse Matt Drudge (probably because Drudge has the incriminating e-mail). Then Hillary tried to change the subject, "But let's just stop and ask yourself: Why are you - why is anybody concerned about this?" she asked. Maggie Williams, Clinton's campaign manager, continued this thought, even going so far as to blame the Obama campaign for the whole mess (which, remember, was started when one of her employees allegedly e-mailed the photo to the most incendiary conservative news monger on the Internet). She said in a statement, "If Barack Obama's campaign wants to suggest that a photo of him wearing traditional Somali clothing is divisive, they should be ashamed. Hillary Clinton has worn the traditional clothing of countries she has visited and had those photos published widely."

You know who should be ashamed Ms. Williams? You. If an average American sees a photo of Hillary Clinton in traditional Muslim dress, what's the first word that comes to mind? I would guess "ridiculous." A word that could come to mind when Barack is in Somali dress - "terrorist." This is a man that has faced allegations of being Muslim, and Maggie Williams does not see how this could be divisive? Williams then claims the Obama campaign is trying to distract voters. Do you really think Barack is trying to distract people when he is on an 11-state winning streak?

If this partisan infighting makes you sick, there's also traditional partisan fighting. On Sunday, DNC Chairman Howard Dean accused John McCain of accepting over $6 million in public matching funds when his campaign was struggling, only to now be skirting the regulations and spending caps that came with it. The Federal Election Coucil has yet to rule, but McCain cannot be happy to have his integrity attacked again. Only last week, The New York Times ran a front-page hatchet job on McCain's honor that the paper's own ombudsman criticized for making unsubstantiated claims about a McCain affair with a lobbyist.

The presumptive Republican nominee is really in a tough spot, because if Dean's allegation sticks, McCain will be looking at a serious fundraising deficit, and we are talking a vintage 2003 George W. Bush- style deficit. Barack Obama raised more than $30 million in January and is projected to raise over $50 million in February. Imagine what he could do with every Democratic donor behind him? McCain is pushing back by pressuring Obama to honor a statement he made months ago regarding accepting matching funds for the general election. This could cost Obama hundreds of millions of dollars. I guess McCain is familiar with how much it hurts when something you did months ago comes back to bite your campaign in the butt.

Alex Garlick '08.5 is a Political Science and Economics major from Needham, Mass.