Im-plausible Deniability?

The dogwhistle's gettin' pretty shrill in Ohio, it seems. Tonight on 60 Minutes, Steve Kroft asked Hillary Clinton whether she thought Barack Obama was a Muslim [which he is not. You can read about it and see the video at CBS News.] My ears perked up at this question, and good golly Miss Molly Ivins, if the ears of Marley and Nova, our resident spaniels, didn't perk up too:

Schoenholtz told Kroft he is leaning towards Obama, but that there were a couple of issues he was “not too clear” on.

Asked what they were, Schoenholtz said, “Well, I'm hearin' he doesn't even know the National Anthem, you know. He wouldn't use the Holy Bible. He's got his own beliefs, got the Muslim beliefs. Couple issues that bothers me at heart.”

“You know that's not true,” Kroft remarked.

“No. I’m just…this is what I've been told,” he replied.

Now, to be clear, Kroft did tell him "you know that's not true." And Kroft did ask Obama about this smear tactic.

Kroft also asked Hillary Clinton about it. And got this for an answer:

“Of course not. I mean, that, you know, there is no basis for that. I take him on the basis of what he says. And, you know, there isn't any reason to doubt that,” she replied.

“You said you'd take Senator Obama at his word that he's not…a Muslim. You don't believe that he's…,” Kroft said.

“No. No, there is nothing to base that on. As far as I know,” she said. [emphases mine.]

Watch the video here

Tone matters, just as words matter. And Senator Clinton does a very artful job of stating a positive and then pulling back, planting seeds of doubt. And judge for yourself whether there's a bit of the ol' artful dodger in those "catch me if you can" eyes as she speaks.

We'll see how this all plays out in Ohio and the other primary states on Tuesday, but one wonders if the candidate who proposes a timeout from trade is also taking a timeout from ethical campaigning.

The Big Dog may have been leashed and put back in the kennel, but the dog whistles sure seem to be blowin' in Ohio.