The collapse of Hillary Clinton's campaign for the presidency has been absolutely breathtaking. The candidate herself seems to be unsatisfied with the pace of the collapse and has been rushing to accelerate it taking her cues straight out of the Republican playbook. Reported by the Boston Globe:

"I don't think it was by accident that Al Qaeda decided to test the new prime minister," she said. "They watch our elections as closely as we do, maybe more closely than some of our fellows citizens do.... Let's not forget you're hiring a president not just to do what a candidate says during the election, you want a president to be there when the chips are down."

I've got a newsflash for Hillary Clinton: if you want to win the Democratic nomination for the presidency you should studiously avoid using the same fear-mongering tactics that the devil himself Karl Rove and the Republicans have been shamelessly using against Democrats since September 11. If, however, you are running for the Republican party nomination then what you are doing would seem like a wise tactic. Republicans enjoy living in a state of fear, in fact, they seem to thrive on it.

Contrast Hillary's scare tactics with words from Senator Barack Obama:

"There is a moment in the life of every generation, if it's to make its mark on history, when that spirit -- spirit -- has to shine through, spirit that says we are casting aside our fears, and our doubts and our cynicism... when we embrace the difficult, daunting task of remaking a nation..."

Senator Clinton, the American people are tired of being afraid. We have, for the last 7 years, lived with an incessant drumbeat of fear and fright pounded into our heads by Republican politicians and the media about when and where the next deadly terrorist attack will occur. To live our lives in a constant state of terror is not the American way. We will not be bowed or frightened by any bloodthirsty terrorist who wants to change how we live our lives. Nor will we succumb to the overtures of opportunistic and unscrupulous politicians who seek to exploit the threat posed to our people by the terrorists to obtain or maintain their political positions.

This election should be about hope, not fear. We are tired of being afraid.

Update I: Now it appears that Hillary's minions are exploring the idea of creating a 527 to conduct a negative campaign against Barack Obama and drive up his unfavorable ratings. This is a bad idea that won't work but it will succeed in driving up Hillary's unfavorable ratings among Democrats.