The Obama camp appears to be laying ground for pushing back against Hillary Clinton's latest campaign attacks, even if that means taking a negative approach themselves. The difficulty, as has been noted in the past, is maintaining the positive approach that has dominated his campaign while still drawing contrast with the Clintons.

Obama campaign manager David Axelrod claimed last night:

"If Sen. Clinton wants to take the debate to various places, we'll join that debate. We'll do it on...