Is there any doubt what's happening at this juncture in the Presidential race? We have three main movers in this primary: the Republican Party working in tandem with the McCain campaign, the Obama campaign working within the rules of the Democratic Party, and the Hillary campaign working for itself.

The Democratic Party should be a player, but Howard Dean has kept party headquarters quiet, though an ad exposing some McCain weaknesses has just been released. Dean will let the chips fall where they may between Hillary and Obama and then hope to unify the party in time for the general election.

So who's gunning for whom? It's obvious that Hillary and the Republicans have struck a Faustian bargain to play "Let's get Obama." It's not a signed but clearly an implied contract between two weak camps to kill the campaign of the popular choice for the Democrats and probably of all America. Then Hillary and McCain can live on to kill one or the other in the general election.

In her desperate bid to take down her rival, Hillary wants to change the Democratic Party rules she signed and even helped shape. Never mind that Obama has virtually won the Democratic nomination. With breathtaking audacity, Hillary now claims she has the majority of the Democratic voters. This convoluted calculus is derived by adding in to the official tally the disqualified votes from Michigan and Florida. Remember, Obama had either not run or not campaigned in those states. He follows rules.

Hillary and her handlers, mostly old-time Demo pols who are thirsting for power and perks, have also decided on a scorched earth approach to destroy Obama's credibility. With an alligator grin her handlers like Terry McAuliffe claim this will help both her and Obama toughen up. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Sure. But Hillary aims to kill not toughen, so the point is moot.

The Republicans can't believe their luck. McCain gets to take the high road and denounce twisted ads by his cohorts who are out for Obama. Shrewd Republican lizards like Rupert Murdoch cozy up to Hillary, knowing she will use them just as they use her to achieve their ends, both thinking they can outsmart the other. Hillary will take any backers because, as she has all but lost, she has nothing further to lose in her desperate gamble to win against the odds.

Meanwhile increasing numbers of American people get what's going on. But they may not be able to decide the future of our country in the gang warfare of American politics. Before the general election their champion could be ground into dust. The situation is not helped at this moment in the campaign with a recent interview of Obama's now retired and aging preacher, Jeremiah Wright, who thwarts his most promising former congregant with ill-chosen words in defense of his own ego.

Obama, who grew out of the black Christian church movement of empowerment, important for its time, has transcended his roots with a positive message for a new unity of purpose and principle in America.

Hillary, who has ridden the perks of fame from First Lady to Senator and newly acquired wealth, has just poisoned her roots and her future. Let us hope she and the Republicans don't poison the future of a troubled America.

Mayhill Fowler. The name sounds like a character from a Jane Austen novel. And in fact the budding blogger even acts like one. Remember Austen's Emma Woodhouse? With too much time on her hands, the vain and affluent resident of Highbury meddles in the lives of her friends, thinking she can improve them. But her careless manipulations end up creating only havoc and misery.

Mayhill Fowler wants to be a player in the current political struggle for the future of our troubled nation. So she landed herself a position as a contributor to the Huffington Post. As reported in that blog, she is also a haphazard donor to wildly divergent candidates in our high-stakes presidential primaries. She has contributed not only to Obama and Hillary, but also to arch conservative Fred Thompson, in her words "as a show of solidarity for a fellow Tennessean." Say again?

As donor to Barack Obama's campaign, Ms. Mayhill was granted admission to a private fundraiser not open to the press. But between the salad and the main course, as it were, she changed hats into a cub reporter looking for a first scoop. As luck would have it, a killer story fell into her lap. Obama answered a question about his campaign chances with working class people in Pennsylvania. His quick answer was that years of lost jobs have caused many of these folks to be bitter and cling to their guns and religion. Let's get real, he was not criticizing guns and religion, but pointing out in short-hand that Republican claims on them are used as hot-button issues against Democrats. This provided an opportunity for mischief.

Mayhill Fowler faced an ethical choice: Should she keep the comments private, owing allegiance to her role as an Obama supporter, or should she publish and criticize them in her blog as an ambitious cub reporter? As the incident is now known as "Bittergate", we know she published them. Ms. Fowler and her defenders say she was all along motivated by good intentions. Hmm…

Mr. Obama has repeatedly demonstrated that he can articulate the aspirations and frustrations of the average citizen. But he's not perfect and he's certainly not Superman. His inelegant but truthful "gaffe" has been distorted and fully exploited by the Hillary and McCain camps. Gaffes are a dime a dozen in public utterances by Hillary and McCain, and Obama will certainly overcome this moment and probably still gain the Democratic presidential nomination. But, thanks to Mayhill Mayhem - or was it Foul-up Fowler? - Obama faces an even more hellish and perilous road to the presidency.

The media have made much of the art, or artlessness, of reporting in the new political blogosphere. But it's also a story of the eternally conflicting motivations and ethical choices of human behavior.

Will McCain slay McAbel in November? Who knows, but if he does, Jane Austen told us a long time ago just how it could happen.