i had an interesting conversation this weekend with someone who is related to a whistle blower in the whitewater affair. we discussed the personality characteristics of the clintons and the clinton machine; they can get very ugly when anyone creates speedbumps to their plan, but i think that we are all aware of these tendencies. in general, i have defended hillary’s conniving nature as expectant of the US president. furthermore, i still believe that the characteristics that have been heralded as necessary for president are often defined as bitchy, which works against hillary. however, i had an epiphany this morning…

i really don’t think that anything is going to change. i understand that this is a historical election, but i really don’t think that the system will change, and if this is the case, then i think hillary will be a better president to maneuver through the preexisting bureaucratic structure. however, i understand that only the voters can create change, in which case, obama offers the promise of change. but i question his ability to retain this idealistic stance once faced with the trials of the system. in addition, i think that his distinct negative shift in his pennsylvania campaign under the stress of the election offers evidence to my point.

in addition, he claims to be running a “clean campaign,” which apparently means that he refuses to “go negative” in attacking his opponent. however, when asked about clinton’s bosnia fiasco, he said…

OBAMA: And, you know, I haven’t commented on the issue of Bosnia. You know, I…

STEPHANOPOULOS: Your campaign has.

OBAMA: Of course. But the — because we’re asked about it.

Which begs the question, is the candidate a separate entity from their campaign?