Washington: Sen. Barcak Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton have resumed and re-intensified the tactics of verbal attacks and counter attacks, which is clear aftereffect of the results of the 4 March contests.  

Clinton campaign has accused Obama of playing Ken Starr-like tactics. On Thursday, Howard Wolfson, Clinton’s aide and spokesperson compared Obama with Ken Starr, independent prosecutor who was involved in the 1998 probe that led to President Bill Clinton's impeachment.

Starr led the probe of Hillary Clinton's husband, Bill Clinton in a 1998 controversy that almost resulted to his impeachment on perjury and obstruction of justice charges by the House of Representatives and his subsequent acquittal in a Senate trial. Focused on Clinton's denials under oath about his sexual relations with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, Starr's probe came under fire at that time from; Democrats called it politically motivated.

Wolfson criticized Obama's vows to take a more aggressive stance with Clinton, after she won 3 of 4 states on Tuesday. Speaking in the conference call with reporters, Wolfson said, "I for one do not believe that imitating Ken Starr is the way to win a Democratic primary election for president, but perhaps that theory will be tested."

Suffering the recent defeats, Obama earlier on Wednesday had vowed to accelerate his criticism of Clinton and raise more questions about her national security credentials and issues, such as her refusal so far to release her recent personal tax returns. Obama's reaction was his response to what his campaign dubbed Clinton's "slash-and-burn" tactics used in Ohio and Texas battles, where she questioned Obama’s readiness to be commander in chief and lead on the economy.

Wolfson said to reporters, "When Senator Obama was confronted with questions over whether he was ready to be commander in chief and steward of the economy, he chose not to address the questions but to attack Senator Clinton, and that's what we're pointing out."    

"Over 20 years of the Clintons' tax returns are part of the public record. She would release her IRS filings "on or about" April 15, ahead of the April 22 Pennsylvania primary,” Wolfson said.

Counter attacking Clinton campaign, Obama campaign retaliated accusing Clinton, who made an opponent's failure to release his tax returns a campaign issue in her Senate race, of holding herself to a different standard.

Reacting quickly, Obama spokesman Bill Burton said, "It is absurd that after weeks of badgering the media to 'vet' Senator Obama, the Clinton campaign believes that they should be held to an entirely different standard."

"We don't believe that expecting candidates for the presidency to disclose their tax returns somehow constitutes Ken Starr-tactics, but the kind of transparency and accountability that Americans are looking for," Burton said.