So, the Clintons posed for a photo with Obama’s slimy buddy Antoin “Tony” Rezko. Of course she’s telling the truth when she claims not to remember it. If she remembered it, she wouldn’t have raised her rival’s relationship with Rezko during the heated South Carolina debate in the first place. Therefore, the release of this photograph won’t make her (Them? One no longer knows how to describe this Siamese candidacy.) look like a liar. However, it automatically puts her on the defensive. Obama has endured his less-than-incriminating round of suspicion on the Rezko front; now it’s the Clintons’ turn. The way these things work, another photo may pop up, a witness to a conversation could step forward…who knows? The point is Hillary is very bad on the defensive. That’s when she’s least sympathetic, least competent, and thoroughly un-presidential. The “found my voice” Hillary is going to take a little hit.

This should be a lesson in cheap shots. Sure, Obama shouldn’t have had anything to do with the likes of a slick operator such as Rezko, but as a campaign issue, it’s pure swill. There isn’t a candidate who’s ever run for the highest office in the country who can’t be linked to some nefarious person. The lesson is: if it’s too easy, don’t do it. What’s tacky enough to stick to your opponent is tacky enough to stick to you as well.