Clinton is doing what she needs to do to win the nomination.  I know everyone has very strong feelings about the alleged negative campaigning by Clinton's campaign.  By the way, I see Obama's campaign also doing significant negative campaigning from the start.

Anyway, my point is lets for a minute take our emotions out of this and think very objectively.  If Clinton wants to win the nomination, her best chance is to create doubt in South Carolina regarding Obama, and hopefully get the undecieded voters to break for her in the end just like they did in New Hamshire and Nevada.  

If she comes very close in South Carolina or wins there,and then wins strongly in the Feb 5th states, I believe this race is over.  

She needs to take every chance to get this nomination in the bag after the Feb 5 primaries, so she can get ahead of the Republicans in running the campaign for GE.  

I believe she does not want the primaries to drag on much longer, not give Edwards a chance to play Kingmaker or queen maker and not take this fight into the conventions.

Obama's best chance of winning the nomination was right after Iowa.  In New Hamshire, if instead of resting on his laurels and believing everything the media were saying about him, he had gone for the jugular, he might have won NH and it would have been very difficult for Clinton to regain her momentum after that.

What Clinton has shown me, and believe me I am by no means giving her a free pass on anything.  She has in every debate, shown that she can address her weaknesses and go after her opponent's strenght.   I wish Obama had been willing to do that, instead of play the race card and complain about Bill Clinton's tactics.  If he had been willing to talk more about his policies, and gone door to door in Nevada and shown that he is willing to fight for this thing, I would have felt that I could support his candidacy.

Do the strong arm tactics bother me?  Sure

Am I willing to ignore them, by keeping the above big picture in mind?  Yes, as long as the tone changes once the stakes are not so high

Will we see such strong arm tactics again?  Sure, and but I hope this time against the Republicans.

Do I wish John Kerry, and Al Gore had known how to fight for the nomination in this way?  God Yes! Then we might not be in this mess that we are now in.

Do I think that the nominee and hopefully the Democratic president will have to use any and all means available to get her or his agenda passed through Congress?  You bet! I would love to see the 2in 1 team of the Clintons fighting to get Universal Health Care passed through Congress.

Do I trust Clinton to fight for Universal Health Care, to fight to get the troops out of Iraq and to do what is needed for the Economy?  YES.