Peter Daou, the respected political blogger originally behind Salon's Daou Report, online guru for the Kerry/Edwards campaign, and now internet director for Hillary Clinton, has reached the phase of the campaign where you cannot for the life of you figure out how anyone could believe a word your opponent says, even when it is basically the same thing your candidate is saying. This is called living in "the bubble," after the popular television show The Prisoner. Daou wrote an open letter to liberal bloggers this weekend asking them to please point out that Barack Obama has been very mean to Hillary Clinton, even though Obama says he hasn't been. It's totally unfair because everyone thinks Hillary is mean to Barack all the time, what with her calling him inexperienced and saying McCain would make a better candidate, but the fact is, Daou asserts, Barack Obama's campaign has called Hillary "divisive" and "calculating" and "polarizing." Also they altered photos of her to make her look even more woman-y. (J/k!) Daou's full memo (which is quite reasonable while also liberally employing that uncomfortable tone of abject defensiveness that most of Ms. Clinton's surrogates can't help but share these days), after the jump.

Inevitably, Barack Obama's campaign has been forced to drop the foreign-policy adviser who said that Hillary Clinton is a monster, which is fine, but to a British journalist with no discretion, which isn't. Samantha Power, the frighteningly accomplished author and academic who blabbed, resigned today. But watch out for the collateral damage. First of all, Barack should not wait for the invitation to George Clooney's villa by Lake Como; Samantha Power, who got sweaty with the Hollywood star on the basketball court, was the campaign's Clooney connection. And, second, expect the prospects of Cass Sunstein, tipped for the Supreme Court under an Obama presidency, fade a little: the distinguished law professor recently left his long-time partner and Chicago University to be with Power, according to Above The Law.
Photo: Men's Vogue]