The Hillary Clinton campaign has reportedly thought up a new strategy for winning the Democratic nomination that is even more divisive than the super-delegate route: Poisoning Obama's elected delegates so that they cannot appear at the convention. "I swear it is not happening now, but as we get closer to the convention, if it is a stalemate, everybody will be going after everybody’s delegates," a senior campaign official told the Politico. "All the rules will be going out the window."

There are several problems with this strategy, including the fact that DNC rules prohibit delegate poisoning. Beyond that, such a strategy would increase the perception among voters that the nomination does not represent the will of the voters and that Clinton is a mean, calculating b-word. It's worth noting that the Politico story quotes a Clinton official predicting that both campaigns will poison the pledged dels, which could result in a delegate-less convention. While the state of Colorado may sigh in relief, such an eventuality could pose further problems for the Democrats. In the event that no delegates show up for the convention, DNC rules require the nomination be determined by Rochambeau, a.k.a. Rock-Scissors-Paper. Clinton is widely reknowned as an expert Rochambeau player, and the Obama camp is already complaining of unfairness. A high-ranking Clinton strategist smirks, "These were the rules that all the candidates agree to. You can't change the rules in the middle of the game."

Late update:

Hillary spokesperson Phil Singer is adamantly denying a report this morning in The Politico quoting an anonymous campaign official suggesting that the Clinton campaign will poison Obama's pledged delegates. According to Singer:

We have not, are not and will not pursue the pledged delegates of Barack Obama. It's now time for the Obama campaign to be clear about their intentions.

The Obama camp has not yet put out a statement on whether they'll poison or otherwise incapacitate Hillary's pledged dels, though they very likely will soon.