Bill Clinton's suggestion that his wife faced a Republican-style “Swift boat” attack during and after the last Democratic debate drew a rebuke yesterday from Senator Barack Obama who said, “I was pretty stunned by that statement.”
[...]
“We listened to people make snide comments about whether Vice President Gore was too stiff,” Mr. Clinton said, “and when they made dishonest claims about the things that he said that he’d done in his life. When that scandalous Swift boat ad was run against Senator Kerry.”
“Why am I saying this?” he continued. “Because I had the feeling that at the end of that last debate we were about to get into cutesy land again.”
Maybe they'll both cry? There are three approaches to dealing with criticism. One is to answer it. The second is to ignore it, while the third is to whine about it. The strongest individuals do the first; the least strong do the last. It's very hard to emphasize your "strength" when you pursue the latter course.
