I just got done making a short web video for ABC that had me squaring off against liberal blogger and occasional photoshop artist Jane Hamsher of Firedoglake. Just some quick observations.. The netroots, of which Hamsher is certainly a card carrying member, seem insistent on attacking John McCain's character. It's a strategy straight out of the Rove playbook--or so we've heard for years now--attack the candidate where he's strongest. I tend to think this was a far easier feat in 2004 against John Kerry. The left faces a real uphill battle in raising doubts about McCain's character, but they are prone to making things as difficult as possible for themselves. Hamsher also attempted to create a sense of equivalency between John Hagee and Rev. Wright. The only way that makes any sense is if one supposes that the media has ignored Hagee and focused on Wright because of some inherent pro-McCain bias in the media. That's ludicrous. Wright is a real story, Hagee isn't. Obama supporters don't do themselves any favors by ignoring this reality. However, what I found most stunning about the line of attack Hamsher pursued was that she wanted to focus on McCain's "problems" with the FEC. Did he accept public financing and can he pull out of it? I don't know, and I don't care, because it's boring, and there's no way anything comes of it. Still, Hamsher has filed a lawsuit against McCain to force him to accept public financing, and her contention is that his flip-flop on this raises questions about his character. This is such a foolish strategy it's hard to know where to start--the economy is in a tailspin, there's a war on, and liberals want to talk campaign finance. Wake me up when it's over. Finally, I pointed out to Hamsher that Obama has problems in this department as well. Last fall, Obama said, "If I am the Democratic nominee, I will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election." Of course, once it became clear that Obama had enormous fundraising potential, the pledge was quickly forgotten. Hamsher defended Obama saying he'd only promised to have a "discussion." I'd suggest to Hamsher that this is a short-sighted defense. As Dean Barnett pointed out last week, Obama's all talk and no action. His flip-flop on public financing only highlights that.