"Rapid Responders"? This is getting ridiculous

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

In what is becoming an increasingly nasty campaign,  (most ably demonstrated by having our 42nd president serve as attack dog) the two leading campaigns are signing up dueling rapid response teams.  Here are the two press announcements today:

US Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign for president reports launching "Rapid Responders" teams in all 22 of the states with caucuses or primaries on February 5. The teams will respond to "inaccurate or misleading attacks directed at Senator and President Clinton," and in California the team members listed are: State Controller John Chiang; Pres. Alice Huffman, California NAACP; San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom; Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and former US Rep. Lynn Schenk.

US Sen. Barack Obama's campaign for president reports forming a California Truth Squad "to respond to misleading negative attacks from the Clinton campaign." Members listed are: US Reps. Barbara Lee, George Miller, Linda Sanchez, Zoe Lofgren and Adam Schiff, Sen. Gloria Romero, Asm. Karen Bass, San Francisco DA Kamala Harris and Maria Elena Durazo, executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles Federation of Labor.

The bashing back and forth is getting annoying, and I suspect the only real beneficiary is John Edwards as he pursues his quest for delegates to make himself into a kingmaker.

And, for what it's worth, I'd take Obama's squad, mostly because Barbara Lee and George Miller are super-duper cool.