After this morning’s knee-jerk reaction from me about the release of the Obama photo, time for a little more analysis.

The campaigns are heating up.  This weekend, Clinton was blasting Obama about a leaflet questioning her healthcare plan forcing everybody to opt-in.  Today, Obama was blasting the Clinton campaign for the photo, which we still don’t know for sure whether it came from there, says Clinton spokesman, Mo Elleithee:

“We have over 700 people on staff. I don’t know if someone on our staff sent it out or not,” Elleithee said. “If someone on our staff makes the point that we are treated differently by the press than Sen. Obama, we agree with that sentiment. We don’t think there’s anything wrong with this photo. Sen. Clinton has herself, while traveling abroad, dressed in traditional, local dress. And there’s nothing divisive about that.”

He also tried to push back at Obama: “We think it is wrong for the Obama campaign to say that this is divisive photo. It’s not a divisive photo.”

If I was Clinton’s campaign manager, and if they find out for sure it was someone on the campaign, I’d start sending out warnings that tactics such as these will not be tolerated, and they are grounds for dismissal.  Same with Obama’s campaign manager, just to show that any retaliation on basis of unconfirmed reports like Drudge’s.

So, Clinton’s saved from a strike off the consideration list.  Still, I think the nomination race is only going to get dirtier before it gets cleaner, and despite not liking it very much, it shall be fun to see and analyze.