Campaign reporters are buzzing this morning about a photo of Barack Obama splashed on the front page of the Drudge Report. Obama is "dressed," as Drudge puts it, in local garb in the photo taken on his trip to Africa in 2006.
Writes Drudge: "With a week to go until the Texas and Ohio primaries, stressed Clinton staffers circulated a photo over the weekend of a 'dressed' Barack Obama." Drudge quotes an email from a "campaign staffer" who wonders: "Wouldn't we be seeing this on the cover of every magazine if it were HRC?"
No, we wouldn't. Still, there's little information about the email and how it was "circulated." Was it passed quietly to reporters? That's possible, but doubtful. It seems far more likely that a Clinton campaign staffer sent it to a friend or colleague to complain about the good coverage Obama has gotten. Bad taste? Sure. A dirty trick? No.
But Obama's campaign responded quickly, denouncing the photo and the "fear-mongering" it represents.
"On the very day that Senator Clinton is giving a speech about restoring respect for America in the world, her campaign has engaged in the most shameful, offensive fear-mongering we've seen from either party in this election. This is part of a disturbing pattern that led her county chairs to resign in Iowa, her campaign chairman to resign in New Hampshire, and it's exactly the kind of divisive politics that turns away Americans of all parties and diminishes respect for America in the world."
But is it fear-mongering if it was never intended for a public audience? It's not. We'll likely get the bigger story -- and a response from the Clinton campaign -- in short order. And perhaps it will be the case that the photo was "circulated" with the goal of getting it out. In that case, the Clinton campaign will be hit with a full blast of outrage and her candidacy will be over (if it wasn't already).
It is instructive, however, that the Obama campaign did not wait for more details before condemning it as a deliberate smear.
This is one of several reasons why a general election campaign between Obama and John McCain, regarded as practioners of good-government politics, promises to one of the nastiest in recent memory.
