TPM Reader LJ carts out the TPM hermeneutic to size up the contenders ...

I was pondering your "GOP bitch slap theory" and was wondering how you think the various Democratic contenders would hold up to this kind of treatment in the general election. If the bitch slap is a real GOP tactic, they'll need to be able to handle it. Take Edwards, for example. I can't help but recall him sitting next to Cheney during the 2006 VP debates - Cheney lies and says he's never met John Edwards before and the next day there are pictures circulating showing Cheney and Edwards together at some kind of function. Why didn't Edwards turn and call Cheney a bald faced liar? It would have grabbed the headlines and the next day the photos would've proven that Cheney is a bald faced liar. Cheney made him look weak. So I think Edwards is vulnerable to the bitch slap. Obama. When the Australian Prime Minister said that Al Qaeda wants Obama to win, Obama responded that Howard needs to send another 20,000 Australians to the war or else he's just spewing empty rhetoric. He didn't whine about being attacked. Howard's attack seems rather Cheney-esque and I don't think he succeeded in making Obama look weak. Clinton. It seems to me that Clinton's statement decrying the comments of Geffen and (somewhat bizzarely IMHO) demanding an apology from Obama is essentially whining. It's not fair that Geffen said that. It's not fair that Obama won't apologize for something said by a third party. Doesn't this show that she's incredibly vulnerable to the GOP bitch slap?