Ladies and Gentlemen, Start the Dirt

My friends who are McCain supporters may want to take note that the front-runner battle for the 2008 nomination may have been joined. From the New York Daily News...

An anonymous attack by a Clinton advisor on John McCain in the New York Times today has triggered what may be the sharpest exchange so far between the 2008 frontrunners.

This line, from Maureen Dowd's column today , drew an outraged response from McCain's side:

Privately, Hillary’s camp was not overly upset by the McCain swipe because it suspected he was doing the bidding of the White House and that he ended up, as one adviser put it, “looking similar to the way he did on those captive tapes from Hanoi, where he recited the names of his crew mates.”

Either this is a slip, or it's a signal from Clinton-land that the "McCain is crazy" whisper campaign -- which worked quite well for Bush in 2000 -- is being revived. Or both.

Asked about the line, McCain advisor John Weaver responded:

"I never expected the Clintons or their allies to know much about Vietnam. But [it] is disappointing to see one of her spokespeople purposefully lie about John's war record and time in a Hanoi prison camp. There was no such tape recording; though he did once give up the starting lineup of the Green Bay Packers while under extreme duress. Senator Clinton's spokesperson does a disservice to all who were there and served so bravely and honorably."

UPDATE: Clinton's (actual) spokesman Howard Wolfson says, "These comments are reprehensible and they in no way reflect Senator Clinton's feelings." Clinton called McCain this morning about the comment.

(hat tip: The Corner and Instapundit) The starting lineup for the Packers? Man, I have to give the Senator credit for that stratagem alone. I'm wondering if the North Vietnamese are still looking for Forrest Gregg and Paul Hornung. I also have to give credit to the Instapundit reader who noted that McCain flew an A-4 Skyhawk, which meant he flew solo and didn't have any crewmates.

For those wondering, you can pretty much assume this means all those expectations for high-minded campaigns focused on the issues are right on track. Guess McCain-Feingold is working. Seriously, I think McCain's military record is fair game for Hillary's people to discuss, since he has made it a huge part of his backstory as a Presidential candidate. But I tend to think there's not much there that can be used as a basis for attack.