Agree with you entirely. This is like a gift to Obama, because not only does it remind voters that Richardson passed over Hillary in giving Obama the nod, but Richardson gets to explain it over and over again. More importantly, however, the over-the-top attacks on him give voters a glimpse into what a return of the Clinton dynasty would be like. If they've gone this nuclear on a fellow Democrat, just imagine what they'll do to any Republican who gets in their way.

Once again, the fable Clinton "machine" looks like 1938 John Deere tractor with flat tires. Drop it. A simple "He's free to express his opinion." and the issue would been forgotten. Carville's Judas comment just gave the story legs.

bsdespain- it's more like a 1952 Kubota- a monstrosity produced behind the iron curtain with a confusing array of gears and widgets that apparently serve no productive function. The best work of a doddering state run enterprise.

(I drove such a machine for a summer in the late 90s, when I was working my way through college).

Actually the Clinton 'machine' looks just like it did when Bill was in office.  Not a whole lot different than Bush/Cheney/Rove.  They would really be far better off just letting go, but can't bring themselves to do that.

Agreed, the Clintons' refusal to let the Richardson matter drop isn't helping Hillary (and Bill's post-Presidential dignity, never at a premium, is vanishing with every red-faced tirade).  But the flying- monkeys-approach to Richardson's endorsement may not be aimed at Richardson -- but rather at other superdelegates who are considering which way to go.  Richardson can withstand Clinton attacks, particularly if Obama wins the nomination.  Even if Hillary pulls it out, Richardson seems content to remain as New Mexico governor for as long as the voters will reelect him; he's stayed out of the race to succeed Pete Dominici in the Senate, although he'd be the strongest candidate.  Despite their crude attempt to characterize him as their creation, who would still be in the House if Bill hadn't handed him two Cabinet-level posts, Richardson has his own political gifts (limited, but still...), and more importantly, his own independent political base of support.  There's not much the Clintons and their minions can do to him.

But that's not true of other, less well-entrenched superdelegates.  Most of them must be thinking less along the lines of "who's the best candidate we can field against McCain," and more like  "who can I least afford to alienate?"  Thus, Hillary's hope lies in enough superdelegates thinking, "if I back Hillary, and Obama wins, I can mend fences with Obama in the fall; but if I back Obama, and Hillary somehow wins the nomination, I will have pissed off not only the current party standard-bearer, but the previous one as well."  The consequences for a superdelegate of making the wrong choice -- encountering primary opponents backed by the Clintons, finding your donors curiously unavailable or otherwise committed, 3 a.m. telephone calls from Sid Blumenthal -- are too horrible to contemplate.  

Of course, that strategy only works if superdelegates believe that Hillary still has a real shot at the nomination.  Thus the "fight 'till the last dog dies" approach.  

I thought Kubota was a Japanese country?

In any case: slow... news... day...

BC. Crap, it was a Belarus. Okay, the Clinton campaign is like a BELARUS tractor from the fifties. Wow, mixing up my foreign models.

Bill Clinton hopes that the tagline to last season's Wire holds true: "The bigger the lie, the more they believe". Five times!

Richardson, calm and puzzled and disappointed, seems far more credible in that video. And he was completely convincing in his rationale for endorsing Obama - totally principled, for the country.

I agree, psantillana. One of the reasons I wasn't especially enthusiastic about a Richardson run was that he simply isn't capable of this level of guile.

It is very, very interesting to contrast the heavy handed treatment that the Clintons have given to African American superdelegate John Lewis, and Hispanic former presidential candidate Bill Richardson for getting off the Clinton plantation, as opposed to their treatment of, say, Chris Dodd for doing exactly the same thing. What does this suggest about the way the Clintons define "ownership" and who can be "owned" by them?

It looks like Bill Richardson's endorsement of Obama isn't the only thing the Clintons can't