Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama Swap Nasty Barbs via Hollywood

Once upon a time, Hollywood mogul David Geffen supported Bill Clinton and his wife. Now, the founder of DreamWorks movie studio has chosen to trade camps and support Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, contributing $2,300 to his campaign. And not only did he support him financially, he put his mouth where his money is.

In Maureen Dowd’s column in Wednesday’s New York Times, Geffen tells Dowd that "while everybody in politics lies," Clinton and his wife "do it with such ease, it’s troubling." Geffen also says that the former president is "a reckless guy," and that no matter how smart or ambitious Sen. Hillary Clinton is, he does not think she has the chops to unite Americans in a time of war.

The Clinton campaign immediately began to pitch a hissy fit, demanding that Obama not only denounce Geffen’s comments, but also return his campaign contribution. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, another Democrat vying for the presidential candidacy, agreed that Obama should apologize for Geffen’s comments. "We Democrats should all sign a pledge that we all be positive," Richardson said.

On the campaign trail in Iowa, Obama seemed perplexed by the suggestion. "It's not clear to me why I'd be apologizing for someone else's remark," he told reporters.

Taking part in a candidate forum in Carson City, Nevada, Clinton did her famous sidestepping and left it to aides and reporters to discuss. "I’m just going to stay focused on my campaign and I'm going to run a positive campaign about the issues that affect the people in our country," she told The Associated Press.

But the Clinton campaign was in no mood to settle down. Because Obama was in Iowa, Clinton’s aides set up a conference call between reporters and former Iowa attorney general Bonnie Campbell so that she could criticize him on the record.

A spokesman for the Obama campaign, Robert Gibbs, issued a statement criticizing the Clinton campaign for criticizing the Obama campaign. "It is also ironic that Senator Clinton lavished praise on Monday and is fully willing to accept today the support of South Carolina state Sen. Robert Ford, who said if Barack Obama were to win the nomination, he would drag down the rest of the Democratic Party because 'he's black,'" Gibbs' statement said.

Aren’t Democrats the ones who are always talking about tolerance and getting along? You’d never know it.