Nothing to fear but an Obama defeat in November?

Much has been discussed in recent days on whether or not Hillary Clinton is playing on fear, specifically with the infamous '3am' online commercial. Frankly, I think it's a perfectly valid line of attack. The ad is soft, with light music and 'reassuring' images. It's not like the ad suggests that there are scary wolves just out of range, waiting to eat your children if John Kerry is elected. In theory, there will be circumstances, both dire and not-so-dire when the president will have to make important decisions at 3am (apparently, Bush responded yesterday by claiming, to the surprise of about 19-24% of the populace, that he just lets said calls go to voice mail).

The Obama camp quickly responded with a similar ad (basically claiming, not without merit, that the 'red phone' moment came in 2002, and those who voted for Bush's authorization of force against Iraq blew it). Also making the rounds is video of a rousing speech that Bill Clinton gave in 2004, basically stating that if one candidate appeals to your hopes and the other appeals to your fears, vote for the one that appeals to hope. He was right then and his sentiments are right now.
The problem is that neither candidate is really playing on fear. If the 3am ad was intended to frighten, it would have been darker, the voices would have been ominous, and Hillary Clinton herself would not have appeared in the ad (she certain wouldn't have appeared, looking calm, collected, and not the least bit worried about whatever that 3am call was (maybe it was the inside scoop about New Line).

Hillary Clinton's campaign has always been about experience and Barrack Obama's campaign has always been about judgment (ie - being smart versus being wise). To presume that any remotely substantial campaign ad is automatically an act of fear-mongering is naive and hurtful to the process. Granted, Obama's rhetoric has been closer to the classic FDR speeches. But, perhaps Clinton is the one who is truly afraid. Not that she will lose but that Obama will lose the general election.

Much has been made about how cutthroat Clinton has been since South Carolina. She of the alleged dirty tricks, baiting statements, and leave no man alive strategies. Most of the punditry has been focused on the simplistic notion that she is simply power mad, determined to achieve the presidency by any means necessary as some form of manifest destiny. That may be true. She may very well think she's entitled, as if this is her reward for dealing with 12 years of the most misogynistic, savage, wrongheaded attacks one can imagine from the opposition party.

But, what if it's more complicated than that? What if she is being as aggressive as she is because she is afraid for the party? I believe that both candidates are well-placed to take the White House in 2008. But she may not. If she honestly believes that Obama will lose to McCain, then it is her duty to pull every string, to try every trick, and call in every favor to make sure that she is the party's nominee. Because, in her mind, the only we thing have to fear, is a John McCain presidency. On that , we agree.

Scott Mendelson