Blackening Obama

As the polls dwindle down, Hillary Clinton's supporters are performing what they delicately call "the political equivalent of a proctology exam on the opposition" by pelting Barack Obama with slime and hoping some of it will stick.

Twisting old news about real estate deals, drug use and (shades of Nixon) slush funds into attacks on his character that might make Karl Rove blush, they are topping it off with accusations that Obama's campaign is importing college students to vote illegally in the Iowa caucuses.

A Clinton national co-chairman is spreading word about possible problems from Obama's youth that Republicans could use if he is the Democratic nominee.

"It'll be, 'When was the last time? Did you ever give drugs to anyone? Did you sell them to anyone?'" he told the Washington Post. "There are so many openings for Republican dirty tricks"

Meanwhile, the "Hillary is 44" attack crew is dredging for every bit of gossip about "Obama’s myriad real estate deceptions and transactions" and other alleged "lies."

Conservative smearmaster Robert Novak is helping stir the pot. Last month he provoked a Clinton-Obama spat with a report that "agents" of the Clinton campaign had been "spreading the word in Democratic circles that she has scandalous information about her principal opponent."

Today he spotlights an accusation on "Face the Nation" last Sunday that Obama is illegally spreading money from a Nixon-like fund to bolster political support and shoots it down by claiming the PAC fund "contributed to Clinton's 2006 Senate reelection and, in the current cycle, to Jeanne Shaheen's Senate campaign in New Hampshire, even though her husband, Bill Shaheen, heads that state's Clinton campaign."

The days are growing shorter in Iowa and New Hampshire, and more than one kind of darkness is setting in.

The Mighty Are Falling Primarywise

The subject of today's sermon is pride--as well as money and power--cometh before a tumble.

The Iowa polls show people with names hardly anyone knew a year ago, Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama, leading the former First Lady, the celebrity hero of 9/11 and the former governor who is spending tons of money there.

In New Hampshire, the only paper that counts, the Union Leader, endorses John McCain as "the most trustworthy, competent, and conservative of all those seeking the nomination" who "can be trusted to make informed decisions based on the best interests of his country, come hell or high water."

There are, of course, still promises to keep and miles to go before we sleep (pace Robert Frost) in this season of decision, but today's news is oddly heartening. Somehow, in the face of all the conventional wisdom and the smart money, Americans are struggling to make up their own minds about who is best suited to keep them safe and sane in a turbulent world.

In Iowa, women and younger voters are turning toward Obama, while Huckabee is tapping into social conservatives and the middle-aged.

McCain's endorsement from a paper that doesn't "agree with him on every issue" is all about character.

"When McCain was shot down and taken prisoner by the North Vietnamese," the Union Leader notes, "he was repeatedly beaten. When his captors discovered that his father was a top U.S. admiral, they ordered him released for propaganda purposes. But McCain refused, insisting that longer-held prisoners be released before him. So they beat him some more. He never gave in then, and he won't give in to our enemies now."

In one place, at least, that trumps Rudy Giuliani's performance on 9/11 and Fred Thompson's on "Law and Order."

Most of all, the voters seem to be sending a clear message: Don't take us for granted--or fools.