As each day seems to bring more bad news for the Hillary Clinton campaign, Clinton herself and her surrogates grab at increasingly desperate straws to attack a surging Barack Obama. Today's news brought new poll numbers suggesting that Obama has nearly broken Clinton's lead in Texas, a state in which Clinton badly needs to win if she is to continue in the race. With two weeks left until the Mar. 4 primaries, Obama has lots of time to gain on Clinton both there and in Ohio, where Clinton still holds a significant lead. While Obama is perhaps most famous for the immediate excitement he is able to raise wherever he goes, we have seen that he also tends to do well over time as voters get to know him. There is every reason, therefore, to be confident that even if he does not win in Texas and/or Ohio, Obama is likely to do well enough in both to prevent Clinton gaining much advantage from either. Meanwhile, primaries this week in Hawaii, Washington, and Wisconsin look very promising for Obama.

Clinton's reaction to all of this, of course, is to go negative. Today Clinton sought to attack Obama because he appeared in a speech to have borrowed a few lines from his friend and supporter, Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick. We know of course that politicians borrow material from one another all the time, particularly when they are traveling the country giving speeches every day. We know, for example, that Clinton herself has borrowed Obama's "fired up, ready to go!" cheer, just as John McCain has borrowed Clinton's "ready on day one" slogan, and that no one has really made a big deal of it. We also know that politicians including Hillary Clinton commonly employ squads of speechwriters to supply them with well-chosen words from other people's brains. Why is it any better to repeat a speechwriter's words than a friend's? It would be nice if we could just sit and produce fresh mountains of original material each day from our own brilliant minds, but this would be difficult for anyone to do, let alone someone in the midst of a grueling campaign schedule. Perhaps we should ask Deval Patrick himself whether he minds his friend Obama borrowing some of his previous material. My guess is he probably doesn't. At any rate, Clinton might do well to limit her attacks on Obama to issues that actually matter to real people.

After 18 debates and with two more scheduled before Mar. 4, meanwhile, Clinton continues to badger Obama for yet more debates, and attacks him for not wishing to devote even more of his precious campaign time to debating her. I understand that Clinton is having a hard time keeping up with Obama's mammoth fundraising success, and that a debate is a good way for her to get some free publicity, but I think we're already getting plenty of them - I'm not so sure I'd want to sit and watch them any more often than we have. I also don't think I'd be any more anxious than Obama to have my whole campaign schedule dictated by Hillary Clinton's desire to have a debate every day or so.  Obama says that he has other places to go and other people to meet and talk with on the campaign trail, and I see no reason to disagree.

With so little left on which to seriously challenge Obama, Clinton has fallen to the unenviable position of having to attack him on the basis of any flimsy little storyline she can come up with.  Meanwhile, what began as an exciting round of primaries and caucuses is now beginning to drag somewhat, as Democrats grow anxious to begin their general election campaign against John McCain. If Barack Obama emerges from the Mar. 4 primaries still ahead and gaining, I think a good case can be made at that point for Clinton to put party and country ahead of personal ambition, and to clear the way.