Hillary: "Well, now the fun part starts"

It's game on in Iowa according to Hillary Clinton:

Clinton, campaigning across Iowa on Sunday, appeared to be spoiling for a fight with her chief Democratic rival in national polls -- even at one point describing the battle as "fun."

"I have said for months that I would much rather be attacking Republicans, and attacking the problems of our country, because ultimately that's what I want to do as president. But I have been, for months, on the receiving end of rather consistent attacks. Well, now the fun part starts. We're into the last month, and we're going to start drawing the contrasts," she said.

That drew a swift rebuke from Obama. "This presidential campaign isn't about attacking people for fun, it's about solving people's problems, like ending this war and creating a universal health care system," he said in a statement. "Washington insiders might think throwing mud is fun, but the American people are looking for leadership that can unite this country around a common purpose."

It's going to be a long month on the campaign trail. As we get closer to Christmas, the question is whether people will be listening.

This is an otherwise very busy and stressful time for most Americans. Between holiday parties, Christmas shopping, final exams for the college students and all the other tasks associated with December, it's hard to figure how people -- even in Iowa and N.H. -- are going to fit in politics. We haven't had an election season that so intruded on the holidays.

At some point soon, I think the campaign will basically freeze. Where candidates are now is probably where they are going to be in early January when everyone emerges from the holiday fog.

It's going to be hard to gain momentum during December -- and it's also a very risky tactic to start being aggressively negative when most people have holidays on their minds. That could backfire.

So, now the fun part starts. Fun for whom is the question.

One other thing: We better not hear any complaining from people in Iowa and New Hampshire about how the caucus and primary are interfering with their holidays. Leaders in those states fought very hard to maintain their early status. They got what they wanted. So no bitching.