Hillary Clinton's "mistake" is not being what she is guilty of anyway

Hillary's mistake is that she didn't go dirty.

No, really. According to the Wall Street Journal:

Mrs. Clinton's first and biggest mistake, which eventually led to her undoing, can be summed up in a single question: How and why did her campaign miss Mr. Obama's association with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright?

Put simply, had Mr. Wright been introduced to voters a few days before the Iowa caucuses, odds are Barack Obama would not be a hair's breadth away from clinching the Democratic nomination for president of the United States.

Hillary Clinton's big mistake: not being like Rove.

Because, apparently, the new reality is that we've got to all admit that this is just how campaigns are done now*.

Opposition research is the starting point of every campaign; it is the necessary due diligence candidates must undertake to inform themselves about the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents. And the Clinton campaign clearly failed at this basic task.

A prevailing theory of political combat, most recently perfected by Karl Rove, is to focus on your opponent's greatest strength and find a way to turn it into a weakness. From the beginning Mr. Obama's strength was his appeal as a postpartisan, post-racial unifier who could bridge America's divides and move the country forward.

And from the beginning there were signs that Mr. Obama's longtime association with Mr. Wright and the Trinity United Church ran counter to the image and narrative Mr. Obama was crafting for his presidential run.

On Feb. 6, 2007, just days before Mr. Obama officially announced his bid for the presidency in front of the old state house in Springfield, Ill., an article in the Chicago Tribune examined the "black value system" espoused by his South Side church which includes a "disavowal of the pursuit of middleclassness."

So, in other words, Hillary's mistake is that she didn't play the race card.

We have a choice. We can continue to support those who bring us a sleazier nation, or we can insist - demand - that integrity be upheld.

We can accept the weaker candidate (with the dirtiest tactics) as our leader - as if he were legitimate - or we can demand more*.
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*Hey Democratic party? You gonna make the fatal mistake of agreeing that the Democratic party is no better than the Republican one?