Obama accuses Clinton of dishonest tactics

The Democratic race for the White House is turning nasty with Hillary Clinton's campaign team being accused of 'swift-boating' - the term that dates back to the 2004 presidential race when innuendo and insinuation, but no actual facts, were used to muddy the waters over John Kerry's war record as a navy Swift Boat captain.

This time, Mrs Clinton's team are accused of saying they have obtained unspecified 'scandalous information' about their closest rival, Barack Obama. Obama's team have responded this weekend by challenging Clinton either to tell the public what she knows - or "concede the truth that there is nothing".

Referring to Hillary's many difficulties with rumours and innuendo during her eight years as President Bill Clinton's First Lady, Obama said: "She of all people, having complained so often about the politics of personal destruction, should move quickly to either stand by or renounce these tactics." (Continued below)

However, Hillary claims she has "no idea" what the Obama rumours are about. Howard Wolfson, Clinton's spokesman, made the point that the story was broken by a conservative columnist, Robert Novak, and claimed that Obama had been naive in falling for an old right-wing trick: "A Republican-leaning journalist runs a blind item designed to set Democrats against one another. Experienced Democrats see this for what it is. Others get distracted and thrown off their games."