Senator Clinton was civil until she started losing. Obama is answering her, charge by charge. This is not going to be enough. The Clintons have a veritable Kitchen Sink Factory to create weapons to hurl at their opponents. But Hillary’s own tub is full of dirty bathwater. Maybe it’s time for Obama to throw the bathtub at her.

If he doesn’t start doing this, now, he risks being Willie Horton’d to death and suffering the same fate as Dukakis. Regardless of the March 4 results, this campaign is not over. Regardless of what the pundits say, this campaign is not over. Regardless of what the Party honchos say, regardless of what the delegate count says, this race is not over.

When the Clintons are involved, it is never over. They are the Jason’s of “Nightmare on Pennsylvania Avenue.” No matter how many times they are taken down, they keep getting up. They defy all odds. They will win at any cost.

That last statement bears repeating. The Clintons will win at any cost. If Obama does not realize this, he is indeed naive, as Hillary says he is, and he deserves to lose.

There are many bathtubs he could throw at her, though some might not be fair. The Clinton Co-Presidency that Hillary proudly trumpets on her resume of “experience” is replete with questionable financial deals, missing White House furniture, misplaced classified files, finger-wagging televised lies, rumors of emotional explosiveness and unpredictability, drug-running airstrips in Mena, allegations of perjury and obstruction of justice, and a truly impressive collection of conveniently morphed positions on hot political issues.

Then there is the “association with shady characters” card, along with embarrassing endorsements, from which the Clintons are currently scoring bogus political points. Almost every person in America over the age of 40 has at some time or another rubbed shoulders with and made deals with someone who turned out to be a shady character. We all have associates who have morals and opinions we disagree with. None of us have much control over which scoundrels like or “endorse” us. It is seldom fair to make an issue of this.

But Hillary has. That’s fine. But it opens her up to the same low standards of fairness she is using to attack Obama. That is a sneaky little game she cannot win, unless Obama lets her. In their righteously indignant accusations of “shady connections,” the Clintons have slightly more credibility than a knee-capper moonlighting for the mafia.

Actually, Senator Obama does not have to stoop to the level of being unfair, unethical, or dishonest. There are a host of legitimate questions that could keep Senator Clinton busy from now until election day. But Obama has to ASK them, preferably at the same time as, or before, he is fending off her kitchen sinks.

Strictly reactive campaigns never win, in war or politics. Don’t just dodge the sinks, Barack. Hillary has made it legitimate for you to throw the bathtub.