Edwards' adviser (and former Howard Dean net guru) Joe Trippi hits Hillary's big DC fundraiser with both barrels, Glenn Thrush reports for The Swamp:

John Edwards adviser Joe Trippi went off on Hillary Clinton today over the "Washington insider" thing Tuesday, prompting a Clinton aide to accuse Trippi of trying to prop up Edwards' "flagging" third-place campaign.

Trippi, Howard Dean's 2004 E-genius, slammed HRC for holding a $25,000-per-bundler, homeland security-themed fundraiser in DC today. His E-mailed pitch to under-$100 Edwards donors is worth reading in its entirety, but if you're rushing out to lunch, just check out Trippi's the killer Cross-of-Gold conclusion:

"If you want to know why we need change in Washington -- and I mean real change, not just trading corporate Republican insiders with corporate Democratic insiders -- then just look at Senator Clinton's schedule for today.

* * * * *

The American people know that the system in Washington has become corroded and corrupt -- that the nation's capital is awash in campaign money from lobbyists seeking to gain influence to impact legislation.

Today's Clinton fundraising event is a "poster child" for what is wrong with Washington and what should never happen again with a candidate running for the highest office in the land.

That no one in the Clinton campaign -- including the candidate -- found anything wrong with holding this fundraiser is an indication of just how bad things have gotten in Washington -- because there isn't an American outside of Washington who would not be sickened by it."

Read it all at the above link. Hillary spokesman Phil Singer responded: "Increasingly negative attacks against other democrats aren't going to end the war, deliver universal health care or turn John Edwards' flagging campaign around."

Hmmm . . . sounds vaguely reminiscent of . . . "No attack ever fed a hungry child."

Edwards' only advantage in the late stages of the campaign, in which both he and Obama have found solid ceilings on their support so far, is that he has nothing to lose. He isn't going to be Veep after his pathetic turn in 2004, he isn't remotely qualified for any Cabinet position, and North Carolina wouldn't elect him Ambulance Chaser if they had such an office. Edwards won't suffer any more than the rest of us if Hillary wins, even as he gets tough. Obama, on the other hand, doesn't want to alienate a potential President of his own party while still serving in the Senate, not to mention harboring future ambitions which don't need powerful enemies waiting.

Neither of them has shown the slightest ability to lay a glove on Clinton so far, but their best friend may be the candidate herself. Her association with a major scam artist recalls memories of the fundraising corruption in previous campaigns, and her own arrogance could undo her big lead. In that - admittedly, unlikely - event, Edwards wants to be positioned as the one to take her place, and being the first to openly criticize her on the issue would help his credibility in that area.