DESPERATION MODE? “There must be at least something to that purported Sunday New York Times piece on questionable Clinton Library donors. Dismissing the attacks on Clinton, Inc for going negative on Obama, Bill Clinton kept them up while on with Charlie Rose. One has to wonder if, knowing some mud was coming their way from the New York Times, they didn’t opt to drag Obama down into it first. If you doubted the Obama drug smear was a planned attack, you can pretty much get over that thought now.”

UPDATE: More here. And Marc Ambinder has a post, too. And there are some angry Obama fans in the comments.

This underscores a problem for Hillary — if she beats Obama, but in a way that Obama supporters think is dirty, via smears or excessive reliance on “superdelegate” votes — they may not turn out in November. If she doesn’t pull out all the stops, though, she may not win the nomination. And this has to bother Bill, who managed to retire undefeated, by sullying his legacy since her loss will reflect badly on him.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Juan Paxety emails:

An interesting post on potential dissatisfied Obama voters if Hillary wins. But what will the reaction be when the Obama voters realize that Florida and Michigan, two states with substantial minority populations that might be prone to support Obama, will not be allowed to have delegates at the Democratic Convention?

This is not the first time the Democrats have pulled a similar stunt. In 1968, before the street demonstrations, the Democrats packed the convention balconies with “observers” then took a voice vote on whether to seat the legal delegations from several Southern states. The “observers” could clearly be seen shouting votes to remove the delegates. The Georgia delegation was replaced by one led by Julian Bond, of all people. Georgians fled the Democratic Party in droves and didn’t support another Democrat for President until Jimmy Carter ran in 1976.

Will the Obama supporters similarly abandon Hillary in the fall?

Yes, this is an issue. If Hillary beats Obama soundly in the early primaries that’s one thing. If it’s close, and it looks like she’s won by smears, or by clever insider manipulation, then she may lose not only Obama supporters, but black voters who are generally supportive of the Clintons. On the other hand, with Obama looking strong, she may not win the nomination without playing those cards. The best thing for the Democratic Party, of course, would be for her to play it clean, ensuring that whoever wins the nomination is in a better position to win the general election. Evidence to date, however, suggests that she’ll do what most candidates do — whatever it takes to win the nomination, and try to deal with the general election problems when they arise.