I noted today Greg Sargent's report of an interview with Harold Ickes.

"Look what the Republicans did to a genuine war hero," Ickes said, in a reference to John Kerry.

"Super delegates have to take into account the strengths and weakness of both candidates and decide who would make the strongest candidate against what will undoubtedly be ferocious Republican attacks," Ickes continued.

The psychology here is what is wrong with the Clinton campaign, and what has been wrong with the Democrats in general for a long time.  The vital question is: which candidate can be better supported in ferocious attacks by Democrats on McCain?

Democrats need to be slicing and dicing the Republicans, and especially McCain. 

The Democratic Presidential candidate cannot herself (or himself) be ferocious or negative -- that's just ugly and unattractive.  But, Democrats supporting their candidate have to be ready to make clear in the most vivid terms just what a horror show the Republicans have proposed for a Bush third term.

Does either Democratic candidate make it easier (for other Democrats) to make ferocious attacks on McCain, and to make those attacks more effective?

No Democrat -- no human being -- can expect to passively stand-up against the Republican slander machine.  The Republican slander machine does not depend, for its effectiveness, on any real personal characteristic of the candidate, in any case.  The slander is made up, fabricated.

People have argued that Hillary starts in a ditch, because so many people have bought into some measure of anti-Clinton slander, over the last 17 years.  I don't agree.  If anything, Clinton Derangement Syndrome on the Right is something of a good thing -- because the Derangement aspect can be made rather obvious.

But, I wonder if Hillary Clinton does not make it rather harder to attack McCain.  She's calls him her good friend.  She's travelled with him.  Bill praises his patriotism, and let's his deranged foreign policy ideas slide into the background. 

When Hillary sits down with Richard Mellon Scaife, you kind of expect her to ask for a retraction of that accusation she conspired to murder Vince Foster.   But, no, she slights his Democratic opponent instead.  And, her supporters, like Ed Rendell, go on Fox News to tout her.

Democrats need a candidate, who let's them do what needs to be done to the Republican Party and the Republican candidate.  And, what needs to be done is some ferocious attacking.

The candidate cannot do it.  But, the candidate should not be getting in the way, should not blunt the attacks in any way, by past record or current position or association.