Escalating Rhetoric by both sides probably dooms 'Dream Ticket'

Somehow, I don't think comparing Obama's tactics in the campaign with those of Special Prosecutor Ken Starr will win Hillary Clinton any friends in her rival's camp.

Nor will Obama senior foreign policy aide Samantha Power's description of Hillary Clinton as a "monster" get the Illinois senator any invitations to the Clinton library in the near future.

And the talk just 48 hours ago about a "Dream Ticket" involving both candidates is probably dead as a result of these harsh exchanges:

First, a little context to Power's rant:

Earlier, clearly rattled by the Ohio defeat, Ms Power told The Scotsman Mrs Clinton was stopping at nothing to try to seize the lead from her candidate.

"We f***** up in Ohio," she admitted. "In Ohio, they are obsessed and Hillary is going to town on it, because she knows Ohio's the only place they can win.

"She is a monster, too – that is off the record – she is stooping to anything," Ms Power said, hastily trying to withdraw her remark.

Ms Power said of the Clinton campaign: "Here, it looks like desperation. I hope it looks like desperation there, too.

"You just look at her and think, 'Ergh'. But if you are poor and she is telling you some story about how Obama is going to take your job away, maybe it will be more effective. The amount of deceit she has put forward is really unattractive."

The Scotsman wouldn't let her withdraw the remark because the interview took place in the context of a book promotion and was dubbed "on the record" from the start.

Judging by the reaction today, Power is probably wishing she had bit her tongue:

Samantha Power, the Irish-born foreign policy adviser to Barack Obama and self-proclaimed “genocide chick”, expects she’ll get the “guillotine” from the Obama campaign today after calling Hillary Clinton “a monster”, she told an interviewer on state-owned RTÉ radio in Dublin this morning.

Power’s interview with the Scotsman was ostensibly to promote her book, Chasing the Flame: Sergio Vieira de Mello and the Fight to Save the World, as was the interview with RTÉ. But the outburst, which she immediately tried to withdraw, is the top campaign story of the past 12 hours, sitting atop the influential Drudge Report and the top story on The Politico.

Indeed, Power apologized late last night:

"I should not have made these comments, and I deeply regret them. It is wrong for anyone to pursue this campaign in such negative and personal terms."

Obama spokesman Bill Burton said, "Sen. Obama decries such characterizations, which have no place in this campaign."

Burton did not reply to the Daily News when asked whether Power would continue to serve as an Obama adviser.

There will probably be a lot more of this because the stakes are so high and the emotions so raw at this point in the campaign.