the attacks continue! (the return of hillary clinton)

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama recently wrapped up a hard-fought, lengthy primary battle that no one could escape from.  Some less politically-informed people I spoke with during that period actually thought that Clinton and Obama would be facing each other in November... the primary season was that big this time.

But Obama secured enough delegates for the Democratic nomination and Clinton dutifully suspended her campaign.  She heartily endorsed Obama and vowed to work for his election, doing whatever she could to ensure his presidency.

That doesn't change the fact that during that primary season, she said a few things that could still come back to haunt her... and Obama.

It was only a matter of time before John McCain's campaign started bringing Hillary back into the equation.

Eileen at Poll Dancing shows us this new ad from the McCain camp, which features a slew of prominent Democrats speaking glowingly about the Republican presidential nominee (though much of the footage is obviously from 2004 or before).

The ad says it'll let Hillary have the last say. And she does. "I know Sen. McCain has a lifetime of experience that he will bring to the White House; and Sen. Obama has a speech he gave in 2002."

It's certainly possible that McCain has taken Clinton's remark out of context, but from her tone it's quite obvious that she was making a jab at her opponent during the primaries.

This cannot be blamed on Clinton, however.  If she had won the nomination and were currently running against McCain, the Republicans could easily release advertisements with Obama making negative remarks about Clinton.  Perhaps it wouldn't have the same effect, though, considering Clinton's stature within the party.

Let's hope that this doesn't negatively affect Obama, especially with former Clinton supporters. She has certainly changed tune these days, recognizing that Obama is a much-needed change in direction in Washington and a far better option than McCain for president.  Not all Dems are on the unity boat, though, and McCain knows that.  Ads like the one above are only playing to those swing voters that haven't yet decided for whom they'll cast their ballot, and we need to do everything in our power to ensure they aren't swayed away.