Everybody in this town knows that when politicians or political writers offer even a slightly inaccurate or improperly-contexted utterance about

Everybody in this town knows that when politicians or political writers offer even a slightly inaccurate or improperly-contexted utterance about Hillary Clinton, a ton of rapid-response bricks are brought down upon their head. And if one smears the Senator, well, they get the political equivalent of The Joe Pesci Treatment at the end of Goodfellas or Casino.

So just try to imagine that, say, operatives close to Barack Obama campaign, or some major politician who has endorsed him, took a cue from former Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey and went on television making allegations about Clinton’s sexuality, adding insincerely that, of course, if those allegations were true, they might actually be an asset to Sen. Clinton, given the importance of gay issues in America today.

What would happen? Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson‘s head would explode so violently it would need to be surgically re-attached to his shoulders. And rightly so. It would be wildly inappropriate, something worthy of a conservative front group. But Team Clinton is doing it because, well, when everything is at stake anything goes.

–Tom Schaller

Ann Friedman is a columnist for New York magazine’s website and for the Columbia Journalism Review. She also makes pie charts for The Hairpin and Los Angeles magazine. Her work has appeared in ELLE, Esquire, Newsweek, The Observer, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and many other outlets. She lives in Los Angeles, but travels so often the best place to find her is online at annfriedman.com. Follow @annfriedman