Boundless cynicism and rank hypocrisy

A few days ago, I discussed Barack Obama's unfortunate reference to Ronald Reagan. Predictably, Hillary Clinton pummeled him about it on last night's debate. I thought Obama did a good job of counter-punching, coolly pointing out that he was not talking about the substance of Reagan's policies. One of his remarks fell flat, however: when he asserted that Mrs. Clinton had been more complimentary about Mr. Reagan in an interview for Tom Brokaw's soon-to-be published book. Not being able to quote what she had said, Obama was unable to land his punch.

So what did Hillary say? According to the NYT, this:

When he had those big tax cuts and they went too far, he oversaw the largest tax increase. He could call the Soviet Union the Evil Empire and then negotiate arms-control agreements. He played the balance and the music beautifully.

Now, I don't think that Clinton was expressing admiration for Regan's policies, any more than Obama did. I think she meant to express admiration for the late president's political skills. Fine. What bothers me is that, having said what she did, she had the effrontery, the unmitigated gall, to attack Barack Obama for his remarks. That kind of shameless hypocrisy is a Republican tactic.

In like manner, the Clinton camp's attempt to keep Nevada Democrats from caucusing at the casinos along the Las Vegas Strip was a step taken out of the Republican playbook. (As it happened, she won most of those caucuses, but her campaign wasn't taking any chances.) Suppressing the vote is a Republican tactic; Democrats should reject such moves.

As it has been pressed over the last three weeks, the Clinton campaign has engaged more and more in the kind of mindless cynicism and rank hypocrisy that marks the party of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. That's disgraceful.

Obama was right last night, when he said that the way you campaign says something about the way you'll govern. Hillary Clinton's campaign says that the way she governs will be hard to distinguish from a Republican administration. Is that what we want?