clipped from: www.sfgate.com With North Carolina and Indiana taking center stage in the political slugfest between Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the next critical primaries could be shaped by political dirty tricks from outside their campaigns.
Already, the North Carolina Republican Party has bucked the wishes of the GOP's presumptive nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain, by buying a TV ad that reminds voters - for what seems like the 1,000th time - that Obama's longtime pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, has made some controversial comments regarding America's role in slavery and the Sept. 11 attacks.
And independent efforts to "swift boat" Obama already have sprung up. A group called ExposeObama.com began sending out e-mails this week such as, "President Barack Hussein Obama ... the scariest four words in the English language!"