Is Hillary Clinton a Reluctant Surrogate After All?

One paragraph from this NYT article stands out. It reads like polit-speak for reluctance:

Advisers to Mrs. Clinton said that she stood ready to help the Obama-Biden ticket, but they urged the campaign not to overestimate the impact Mrs. Clinton could have, noting that she had other commitments this fall, like campaigning and raising money for Senate candidates. Obama aides said the Clinton trip had been in the works before Ms. Palin was named the running mate.

Any hesitation on Clinton's part to attack Sarah Palin's credibility would be the big news that would suck wind out of the Democratic platform. Republicans would pounce on a party bitterly divided--never mind the irony of such a charge--despite the fireworks, Greek columns, and night after night of soaring oratory.

The distance seems pretty overt in this grab. But maybe I read too much into it? And it's a paraphrase, not a quote. Has anybody seen the quote?

Obama Campaign to Supporters

From a mass email sent out by Obama campaign manager David Plouffe:

In the next 36 hours, the McCain campaign will be pouring millions of dollars -- if not tens of millions -- into negative attack ads against Barack Obama.

Before John McCain accepts the Republican nomination on Thursday, his campaign has to spend every last dollar of primary funds they've raked in from Washington lobbyists and special interest PACs.

Just yesterday, they aired a new negative ad in 14 swing states. His campaign manager even admitted that all McCain has to rely on is attacks, saying that for them, "This election is not about issues." He doesn't want Americans to notice that the Republican platform is the most extreme we've ever seen . . .

The McCain campaign is trying to distract voters from the real issues -- so we're going to focus on what they're trying to hide.

They've come out against the life-saving possibilities of stem cell research.

They don't even mention protecting equal pay for equal work.

They support huge tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans.

They've almost completely ignored the $10 billion we're spending every week in Iraq.

And they make zero exceptions for a woman's right to choose -- even in cases of rape, incest, or to protect the life of the mother.

If that all sounds like more of the same, that's because it is. John McCain is offering a third term of the disastrous Bush agenda, so it's no wonder his campaign would choose to focus on attacks instead of issues.

Plouffe warns that an "unprecedented week of negativity" is underway. I am encouraged that the Obama campaign understands exactly how ugly this is going to get.