Molehill Politics

Incisive analysis.

The Democrats' contest has changed from simply a fierce fight for "pledged delegates" into a battle to convince the as-yet-uncommitted superdelegates ... This is an issue injected into the contest by the Clinton campaign.

Pressure tactic; win in any way possible.

In this fight, the Clinton camp is the more aggressive of the two, and it's adept at what might be called molehill politics: making a very big deal in the press about something that's a very small deal—such as a single word in a mailing or a slip-up by an aide.

Pick, pick, pick, until something turns up or wears down the other side. Or both.

The Obama camp has sometimes been slow, and even reluctant, to respond, because if he attacks her personally (which the Clinton campaign would like him to do), he's not Barack Obama anymore. Moreover, Obama takes care not to come across as the "angry black"—a stereotype he does not fit, but that could be imposed upon him by others.

Incisive. He has to fight that, and it is something the Clinton camp is trying to do; witness the talk of Obama as VP, for one.

It's been long said among politicians that "the Clintons will do anything to win." Unfortunately, they are increasingly proving the point. As the primaries in Texas and Ohio approached, the Clinton campaign, which has a tendency to announce its next steps, said that it would use a "kitchen sink" strategy against Obama. But where does, or should, a "kitchen sink" strategy belong in a presidency?

Exactly. Excellent point.

"change" means: briefly, for Obama it means changing the very zeitgeist of Washington, creating a new way to get things done by building coalitions that transcend longstanding political divisions. For Clinton it means passing bills—though sometimes she has suggested that it means electing a woman president. ("I embody change," she said in a debate in New Hampshire.)