Obama-Clinton Camps Engage in Email Debate

First Read (MSNBC):

Less than an hour after the Clinton campaign issued its memo, the Obama camp released its own, which argued that the national polls don't matter.

From campaign manager David Plouffe: "[A]s the Washington insiders focus on irrelevant and wildly inconsistent national polls, there are strong signs in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina of the growing power and potential of [Obama's] candidacy."

More: "This is a sequential process that begins in Iowa and carries through the calendar. If national polls were affecting our ability to grow the campaign, perhaps we would pay them some attention. But they have not, so we don’t."

There's also this zinger: "The month of July has fleshed out the true dynamic of this race – change versus more of the same. We saw this in the dispute with Senator Clinton over diplomacy with Barack arguing for turning the page on the policies of Bush-Cheney and in the YearlyKos Debate when Barack disagreed with Senator Clinton about the role of Washington lobbyists in blocking real progress.

Barack believes we need a fundamental transformation of our politics, which is why as President he will rein in the power and influence of lobbyists. He doesn’t agree that they represent 'real people.'"

*** UPDATE *** By popular demand, here is the entire memo. Be warned -- it is LONG...