IGNORE IGNORE THIS IS A SYSTEM TEST

What I’m hoping for tonight.

I want to see our two excellent candidates do a great job.

Because if either looks bad, we lose. A poor performance by either one of them hurts our chance of defeating McCain If only because if , say , HRC wins , her supporters will have a blog party which will convince some of Obama’s to stay home in November. And vice versa.

Much, probably most of the debate in blog land is counter productive. .

Is Obama out of touch with the American people? One way to refute that is to talk about his years living in a decaying Chicago neighborhood, helping pressure the city to open a job center, to pick up garbage and put more police on the streets. .

An other way is to say that Bill and Hillary have a hundred million dollars. Which still leaves Obama vulnerable to the charge that he’s an elitist. He hasn’t been defended, just given some company on a downhill slide.

Is Hillary a calculating careerist? One way to refute that is to talk about her work with Marian Wright Edelman. An other way is to say that Obama should have left Trinity Church. Which does nothing to defend HRC.

The way to defend HRC is to defend HRC. Ditto for Obama.

Building up your opponent’s negatives may be the conventional consultant advice in the general election. It’s slow motion suicide in the primaries. The candidates should stop it. And so should we.