Mark Penn and his constant ridiculous spin seem to be just another sign of Hillary Clinton's lack of ability to manage and lead when the going gets tough. Yesterday it seemed apparent that even people close to her, Harold Ickes, were laying blame on Penn and yet today he is releasing memos in the campaign. I am shocked that for all of the "shake-up" talk we heard when Obama's win streak took hold that we have not seen a substantive, CONSISTENT change in her tactics. The changes that I have noticed seem to come in bursts, soon to disappear. They seem like trial balloons. Saturday she rails "Shame on you, Barack Obama!!!" but the next day she recoils from the anger saying she got caught up in the contentiousness of the campaign. It is hard for me not to read that set of events as a decision to see if the attack and anger would stick and if they don't retract them, citing the intensity of the campaign. I know none of this is shocking in politics but what does it speak to her ability to lead.

As President their will be times when one's back is politically against the wall, that is unavoidable, and she seems to be failing the tests a rigorous presidential campaign provides to prove her capability in handling  precarious political situations. For all of the talk she has thrown around about  the tremendous ways she has been "vetted" I would like for someone to have her answer a question about the inconsistencies that are apparent in her campaign management. A reporter should ask her how voters should think of a presidential candidate who hadn't planned on her campaign existing past Super Tuesday and summarily seemed to fall into disarray.

For all of the hyperbole about Obama's lofty rhetoric he at least has handled himself with grace when pushed. The depth of management, on all levels, in the Obama campaign is phenomenal. No one can argue that he hasn't proven his ability to lead. They aren't perfect but they have handled their mistakes well. This is, I dare to say, the largest organization that Hillary Clinton has ever had the opportunity to lead and she seems to be at a loss. I will not question that she has had many great accomplishments in her life that would make her a great president but her campaign management has not proven itself to be of presidential quality.

National Public Radio's Robert Siegel interviewed Bill Cunningham following McCain's disavowal of Cunningham after he used Barack Obama's full name in a provovative introduction for McCain at a rally in Ohio. Cunningham denied he was attempting to smear Obama. It is his full legal name and that is what many president's have gone by was his argument. He implies that he was led to such talk by the McCain campaign staff, naming specifically former Senator Mike DeWine. Cunningham goes on to denounce McCain and say he felt thrown under the Straight Talk Express. He hinted that he would consider endorsing Hillary Clinton.

Cunningham's argument included an attack on the media's softness towards Obama that was reminiscent of the Clinton campaign's current strategy. Even though this is just another member of the pundits, it is one that has enough of a voice that McCain chose him to get Conservative's with questions on board. Job well done.