The gloves have come off in South Carolina, as both Obama and Hillary know the loser of that upcoming contest will be seriously hobbled going forward to the nomination. The bickering has gotten to a point of bitterness that is so extreme that it threatens a rift in the Democratic party.

Hillary is particularly guilty of this–both by running ads quoting Obama out of context and by unleashing Bill in all his ferocity against her opponent. Now–I love Bill and always will, and I understand Hillary is backed against a corner–but do we really need to stoop to the level of Republicans? I’m particularly displeased that she is trying to paint Obama with words he didn’t say, and is being so harsh that she threatens to alienate a lot of rank-and-file Dems including her own supporters if she wins the nomination.

The only positive thing about all of this is that we’re seeing how Obama reacts under withering fire, which the Republicans are sure to unleash on him if he wins the nomination. We don’t want another candidate that’s going to wilt and let himself be defined by the opposition. Obama until now has been relatively passive in responding, though I think that has been more out of respect for Bill, the presumptive leader of the Democratic Party. He needs to get over that, though, and prove that he has the balls to fight back hard…and he seems to finally be doing that.

Overall, though, this level of mudslinging is unseemly and I’d much rather see the candidates return to a level of civility. I understand the need to win, but it’s not worth winning the battle to lose the war. Then again, the GOP is so muddled in its own nomination fight that it may not matter–time will tell.

Tags: 2008-election, democrats, hillary-clinton, obama