“They would do anything to win, and that means anything”

Anything. The Obama campaign is expressing what has become a pervasive view among many Democrats:

Is it possible to win the Democratic nomination in such a way as to make winning not worth it?

The Barack Obama campaign thinks so. It thinks Hillary Clinton’s campaign is willing to take any road to the White House, including the low road.

“They would do anything to win, and that means anything,” David Axelrod, Obama’s chief strategist, told me Monday. “There is a frenetic energy around them to commandeer this election in any way they can.”

Axelrod went on: “She is the ultimate Washington inside player. She is always asking, ‘How do we wire the vote? How do we wire the system to get the results we want?’”

From his point of view, the Clinton campaign keeps trying to change the rules.

“When they started off, it was all about delegates,” Axelrod said. “Now that we have more delegates, it’s all about the popular vote. And if that does not work out, they will probably challenge us to a game of cribbage to choose the nominee.”

Another Obama senior aide told me he believed Clinton was willing to “destroy the party” just as long as she ends up with the nomination.

Team Clinton does have a desperation associated with it. Whether they are invoking GOP talking points against Obama, trying to change the rules they've already agreed to, refusing to release her tax records from 2001- 2006, whining when anyone challenges them or just making things up on their endless conference calls, they give the impression that she'll get this nomination even if it does destroy the party. It's not about the Democratic party or its principles. It's about the Clintons.