Is there too much "politics" in politics these days?

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) took the rare step of issuing a statement in his own name on Saturday to call attention to a report by columnist Robert D. Novak that New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign is sitting on “scandalous” information about Obama.

The information was not described and there is no proof it exists.

Obama accused Clinton of “'swift boat’ politics” and vowed he will not be intimidated.

“I am prepared to stand up to that kind of politics, whether it's deployed by candidates in our party, in the other party or by any third party,” Obama said. “The cause of change in this country will not be deterred or sidetracked by the old ‘Swift boat’ politics. The cause of moving America forward demands that we defeat it.”

Now after making that statement the Clinton campaign came back with this:

"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," Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson said in a statement.

"We have no idea what Mr. Novak's item is about and reject it totally."

This is the kind of manipulative, sneaky, ugly politics that makes most Americans queasy.

Now I dislike Robert Novak for his support of the Republicans, his outing of Valerie Plame, and his hypocrisy. But I don't believe he made this story up out of whole cloth. He clearly heard the story from what he considered a reliable source, and Novak is certainly not one to let a rumor go by unreported.

The Clinton camp then saying they have no idea what Novak is talking about, but "hey look out how un-presidential Obama is in how he responded to it", is too cute by half.

Clinton's team wants to point out that Obama is not a savvy enough politician to be America's next President. But here is the thing, I am not going to choose our Democratic nominee based on whether he plays politics better then the other possible nominee.

I am looking for a leader.

We have already seen what you get when you get somebody in office who is very good at playing politics. (I am talking about Karl Rove here, not the moron that he manipulated into office.)

To be truly honest I have no idea why anybody would want the job of President! It ages you faster then any other possible job. You are disliked by almost half of the country. The problems facing you are virtually insurmountable. And in this case you are inheriting a government and military that is fractured and hemorrhaging.

I think that a lot of people want the position for egotistical reasons. I don't want them.

Others want it for ideological reasons. I don't want them.

Perhaps others just have no idea what they are getting into. I really don't want them either.

I want the person who realizes the solutions to our problems and feels obligated to apply those solutions. This person may not be the most attractive, or the most photogenic, or the most politically savvy, but they feel called to serve their country. Not to benefit themselves, but to benefit their country.

This time let's elect a leader, and not simply a politician.