They're worried.

It's 30 days out from the caucuses and the race is a statistical tie. Of course they're worried.

who DOESN'T want to be President in kindergarten? Actually, even as a child I understood that the Presidency wasn't all it was cracked up to be, and in 4th grade wrote an essay on why I wanted to be a senator. Gee, I hope THAT doesn't come back to haunt me.

Yeah, the kindergarten thing is horrible. They should have just stick with either: 1. He told people in law school he planned a run for the presidency (he did); or 2. What's wrong with being ambitious or prepared?

They should focus more on his Social Security and health care policies.

For months many commentators were saying that when it got down to the wire, Obama was going to have a challenging time shifting his campaign away from lofty idealism and toward brass knuckle contrasts. The fear was it was going to look strained, awkward and make his earlier stance appear disingenuous.

So, now we're down to the wire and it is brass knuckles time and who looks strained, awkward and somewhat disingenuous? It's certainly not the Obama camps problem, but judging from the reaction to her attacks, it seems to be the problem facing the Clinton camp.

Odd twist, that.

JP: Looks like maybe the commentators had it right after all. The kindergarten thing (Obama wrote essays in kindergartend?!?!) might make more sense in context. I just read about this on The Carpetbagger Report and found myself wondering why Obama would even say something like that in the first place. Just seemed like a silly thing to say for no reason -- until I recalled something else I read recently on Talking Points Memo:

Obama Camp Uses Disputed Gerth Account Of Clintons' 20-Year-Plan To Fault Hillary By Greg Sargent - November 19, 2007, 10:55AM

Barack Obama has unveiled a new line of criticism against Hillary: In speeches he's started to point to the allegation made in Jeff Gerth and Don Van Natta's Hillary book that the Clintons secretly formulated a 20-year-plan to deliver the presidency first to Bill, and then to Hillary.

"I'm not in this race to fulfill some long-held plan or because it was owed to me," Obama said the other day.

Asked if that were a reference to the Gerth allegation, an Obama spokesperson left virtually no doubt that it was, telling Newsday: "Barack Obama has not been mapping out his run for president from Washington for the last 20 years like some of his opponents."

But the source that Gerth and Van Natta cited with supposed first-hand knowledge of this plan -- historian Taylor Branch -- has since vehemently denied that any such pact existed. "The story is preposterous," Branch told The Washington Post, adding: "I never heard either Clinton talk about a 'plan' for them both to become president."

It's hard to see how the use of Gerth's allegations could possibly play well among Dem activists. Many of them dislike Gerth for his role in "breaking" the Whitewater story and see Gerth's book as an anti-Hillary hatchet job.

Obama, apparently as a subtle dig at Clinton, told a Boston audience yesterday, Dec. 2nd 2007

“I’m not running to fulfill some long held plans or because I think it’s open to me.”

Why don't you ask why he keeps repepating something that has so toroughly been shown to be untrue. He said almost the exact same words last week in Harlem. "I am not running to fulfill longheld plans>>>" It just like Karl Rove. it's untrue. he knows it's untrue. He keeps repepating the lie.

why focus on Clinton who has truth and facts. Why aren't you folksasking why Obama keeps telling unture stories?

debcoop: Nothing subtle about it. Obama has been rather blatantly recycling discredited, leftover sleaze from the days of Melon Scaife's "Arkansas Project." If he wants to open up a door like that then I think he deserves whatever comes through it.

you are being very false Ezra...

first - you know ta it was David Yepsen, the most respected dean of Iowa politics that has been pushing the idea that team Obama is being unfair in getting "out of state" students to vote - and now team Obama has had to back off and now admit that only "resident" out of sate students can caucus, which is different than their letter to 50,000 students - which started all this, was claiming...proving Yepsen was correct. But somehow you say this makes Clinton look bad. Please...

Second. God...what a joke it is to pretend that the camp Hillary response to Obamas once again using the disproved Gerth fairy tale that there had been "20 year deal" between Bill and Hill to one day make both of then President was all about Barry's days in kindergarten.

The list of those quoted in the Clinton piece saying that OBama has ALWAYS said he'd be President one day ranged from recently to long ago. From Obama's first days in the US senate, to his first days in the state senate, to his first days in law school, to his first meeting with Michelle Obammas brother to yes - his first days in school altogether, Obama has been quoted planning and predicting that "one day" he would be President. Personally, I find that kind of creepy...

You know very well that the intent of that Clinton timeline was to show that Obama has had a ...lifelong....desire...and belief that one day he would ...er...rule the world...cum..be President.

But you joined with the Obama, Matthews and Koss crowd and falsely pretend it was really only about the Clintons obsession with Obama's days in kindergarten. Come on...

I hope that former elementary school teacher, the Daily Howler, is reading you today, because for deliberate falseness like this young man, you deserve a spanking...or a least a time out...or maybe you just need a nap...Im sure the Howler will know how to handle this kind of bratty behavior...he's seen it before...in both 6 year olds and in the wunderkids of the Washington press corps...

I think shotgunning truth, distortions, and lies until something sticks used to work better before there was an internet with one-click-away fact checking. But I have to agree that Clinton's strategy is failing. How many serious articles have people seen actually raising questions about Obama's "present" votes (coordinated with planned parenthood) or his missed Iran vote (which is old turf and a losing fight for Hillary anyway)? Every article is just about the fact that she's attacking, mixed in with some articles that are pointing out she's doing a bad job of it, like this one.

I think Hillary's mistake has an additional downside besides driving up her negatives: making her look incompetent. It was a consistent Clinton argument that she would be far better against the Republican smear machine, but Obama's campaign has done a much better job. The winning formula: have spokespeople respond so immediately and vigorously to the attack that their response gets in the same article as the initial attack, while the candidate laughs off the whole thing, diminishing the attacker. (It helps that Hillary hasn't brought much red meat to the table, too.)

If I were giving advice to Clinton, it would be that she should now back off and focus on the PAC issue for a week or so to set up bringing up Rezko. Now, Obama can hit her back even harder if she goes there - but it's really the only easy avenue to getting his negatives up.

The Nation says those polls being emailed are old polls.
Also, David Corn wrote an interesting article today about how Hillaryland is having a full on hate for obama. They feel he is being 'uppity' by thinking he can deny her the nomination.
http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/davidcorn/2007/12/hillary-on-obama-fear-and-hatr.html
i think this strange hate for a rival is throwing all perspective off and causing her to act in a loopy way.