Clinton camp: Obama ‘jeopardizing’ his brand in Pa.

A senior strategist for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) said Monday that Sen. Barack Obama’s (Ill.) campaign is “jeopardizing” his brand by going negative ahead of Pennsylvania's Democratic primary.

{mosads}“They made a very serious choice that will have longstanding consequences to put their brand at stake in order to try to deliver this knockout blow,” said Clinton’s chief strategist, Geoff Garin, in a conference call on the eve of the crucial contest. “They’ve been campaigning … with this notion of 'politics of hope.' I don’t think that that's how they’ve behaved.”

Garin called the decision “high-risk and high-consequence” and argued that it was a conscious choice to go after the former first lady with negative ads.

“I think they’ve really changed the arithmetic here by spending as much as they had, throwing as much mud as they have, jeopardizing their brand in the way they did,” Garin added. “I think they have changed the standards in Pennsylvania in a very significant way.”

Clinton is continuing to lead in the state, but her advantage has narrowed as Obama has poured resources into Pennsylvania. The former first lady’s team, though wishing for a big victory, hopes to hang on to a win, which would allow Clinton to make the case to Democratic superdelegates that Obama has not been able to win large swing states that will be important in the general election.

The Illinois senator, on the other hand, would like to end Clinton’s hopes of winning the nomination by rallying past her in Pennsylvania. However, Obama would likely also be satisfied with a close loss, which would prevent Clinton from significantly reducing his delegate lead.

The Obama campaign is working on a response to Garin's charges.