Pat Dollard

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Washington Times:

So much for that truce.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama are increasingly going after each other, prompting top Democrats to warn they are muddying the party’s image in advance of the general election.

Sen. John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic nominee whose campaign was hurt by Republican-funded “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth” ads, yesterday told voters he will help Mr. Obama fend off attacks.

“The truth matters, but how you fight the lies matters even more. We must be determined never again to lose any election to a lie,” he said in an e-mail to supporters.

The message does not mention Mrs. Clinton, but notes the anonymous e-mails that are circulating that question Mr. Obama’s Christian faith and said, “We’re fighting back.

“The fight is just heating up — we won’t let them steal this election with lies and distortions,” Mr. Kerry said.

Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, a South Dakota Democrat who backs Mr. Obama, said yesterday the Clinton attack of “incredible distortions” is similar to what he has seen Republicans deploy.

“It destroys the party ultimately,” said Mr. Daschle, who was defeated after a bitter election in 2004. He predicted the nasty tone will have a “huge lasting effect down the road … if it doesn’t stop soon.”

The Obama campaign said it will “respond forcefully to each and every one of these accusations” and gave South Carolina voters a toll-free number to report any suspected dirty tricks.

Also yesterday, the Clinton campaign released a Web ad using an Obama speech from 2003 mixed with his debate remarks on health care to paint him as untruthful.

Last week, Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton called somewhat of a political truce after the issue of race took center stage in the campaign.

But that didn’t last.

After Mrs. Clinton won the Nevada caucus Saturday and each campaign accused the other of dirty voter-intimidation tricks, the tension exploded onto the debate stage Monday night.

The two sparred all evening, trading accusations about voting records and past statements, prompting former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina to scold them at one point for squabbling.

“You know, between all the allegations of Hillary serving on the Wal-Mart board and Senator Obama working for a slumlord, I was proud to represent the grown-up wing of the Democratic Party last night,” he said yesterday on the campaign trail.

Speaking with supporters after Monday’s debate, Mr. Obama said his rival is engaged in the “same old games.”

Mrs. Clinton also mentioned the tense debate exchanges during a press conference yesterday.

She characterized Mr. Obama as “very frustrated” and said he seems as if he had rehearsed attacks against her.

“He clearly came last night looking for a fight,” she said.

Voter A.J. Melton, a Florida Democrat, was so troubled by the tone of the debate that he wrote a letter to Democratic strategist Donna Brazile.

“People are sickened by the ugly, divisive, and destructive campaign war being waged between the Clinton and Obama camps,” he wrote to Miss Brazile, asking that she “intervene” to try to mediate the feud.

But Miss Brazile told The Washington Times she felt it “was a real debate.”

“This is a generational fight,” she said. “It may not look good, but in the end the party will either be stronger or weaker, and I think it will be stronger.”

Some Democrats said that talk within party circles has focused on Bill Clinton, with Mr. Daschle saying his behavior on the campaign trail is “not becoming of a former president.”

“I hear talk about it,” said Bud Jackson, a political media strategist unaffiliated with any campaign.

“Right now the general impression is to sort of feel for Barack Obama because he is fighting against two Clintons at once, and I sort of wonder how far the Clintons can stretch the boundaries of that strategy before people begin to reflect poorly on that,” Mr. Jackson said.

“The truth is she could run the risk of making herself look weaker by continually trotting out her husband to launch verbal attacks on Obama,” he said. “The Clintons are walking a fine line. Another major blowout by Bill Clinton against Obama may set people over the edge with that tactic.”

Miss Brazile disagreed.

“The Clintons built this party in the last decade of the 20th century, and if he wants to lead that party he has to reinvent it or rebuild it,” she said.

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe later said Team Clinton has a “win-at-all-cost mentality, and we’re disturbed by that.”

Obama supporters insisted they want to stop the fighting, even as their candidate yesterday defended his aggressive stance in the debate, telling reporters, “Senator Clinton and President Clinton have been spending the last month attacking me in ways that are not accurate.”

“We want to do everything we can to change the tone,” Mr. Daschle said. “In the long run we have to have a united party.”

Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Scott Brennan said the long campaign seems to have shortened tempers, but added: “At the end of the day, we’re all going to have to come back together once we have a nominee.”

Some Republicans hope to get a boost from the infighting.

Scott Darnell, spokesman for the New Mexico Republicans, praised his field as “steady leaders” who look good while a “polarizing” Mrs. Clinton and an “inexperienced” Mr. Obama level those charges at each another.

“It is good for Republicans because the arguments being made against both front-runners are the same ones we’re making,” he said.