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I was going to put this in the lightning round but it really deserves a post of its own. David Corn (via, appropriately, Chris Hayes) wrote in his blog yesterday that in numerous conversations with Clinton campaign staffers and those who know and love them he has seen just how much they despise Obama:
On Monday, Clinton called Obama a "talker" not a "doer" and a purveyor of "false hopes." She mocked his candidacy: ""How did running for president become a qualification for being president?" On Tuesday, the Clinton campaign suggested that Obama's campaign was mounting dirty tricks against Clinton in Iowa and New Hampshire.This is much tougher an attack than anything Obama has hurled at her--and he has been critical of Clinton...And it shows--take your pick--either the meanness or toughness of Clinton and her posse. I lean toward characterizing it as the former.That's just a sample of the various attacks on Obama from the Clinton camp that Corn lists (he doesn't even mention the deeply absurd attack on Obama for his third grade essay on wanting to be president). But why exactly are Clinton's people going after him so hard?
When talking to Clintonites in recent days, I've noticed that they've come to despise Obama...They're not spinning for strategic purposes. They truly believe it.... They really, really hate Obama," one Democratic operative unaffiliated with any campaign, tells me. "They can't stand him. They talk about him as if he's worse than Bush."Wow. I mean that's probably an exaggeration, but still! But the real meat of the piece is the exploration of why they hate him so much: