Newspaper columnist sets cat among Democratic pigeons

The top Democratic rivals tore into each other yesterday after a conservative columnist asserted Clinton claimed to have damaging information about Obama.

The Clinton campaign denied the accusation, saying Obama's reaction to the vaguely worded syndicated column by Robert Novak played into Republican hands and showed his lack of political savvy.

Obama's team later said they took the Clinton campaign at its word but bristled at the idea they fell for Republican tricks and should not have fought back against "smear politics".

Novak wrote: "Agents of Sen Hillary Clinton are spreading the word in Democratic circles that she has scandalous information about her principal opponent for the party's presidential nomination, Sen Barack Obama, but has decided not to use it."

Novak did not specify the information or give more details about its source. Obama said Clinton should either come forward with any information she has or repudiate Novak's column. Obama called the column "a shameless item".

Clinton's spokesman Howard Wolfson said: "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. We have no idea what Mr Novak's item is about and reject it totally."

- Reuters