As we've seen again and again in this race, it's striking how quickly, and unabashedly, the campaigns have converted expressions of grievance about alleged slights into appeals for money -- as if there's no need for the campaigns to even hide the delight lurking within their outrage.

The Hillary campaign, for instance, has already blasted out an appeal to donors that highlights Obama supporter General McPeak's suggested comparison of Bill Clinton with Joe McCarthy.

"Do you think Bill Clinton is like Joe McCarthy?" writes top Hillary adviser Terry McAuliffe in the email, which was sent our way. "Of course you don't. Neither do I. But Barack Obama must because this past weekend, his campaign compared President Clinton to Joe McCarthy. Joe McCarthy!"

Such appeals also reflect the fact that, as noted here last week, the Hillary campaign basically is in the red right now, while Obama has roughly $30 million on hand for the primary.

Full email after the jump.

Dear Friend,

Do you think Bill Clinton is like Joe McCarthy?

Of course you don't. Neither do I. But Barack Obama must because this past weekend, his campaign compared President Clinton to Joe McCarthy. Joe McCarthy!

Ever since we won in Ohio and Texas we have been seeing these kinds of personal attacks from the Obama campaign. It's hard to believe that a campaign that talks so much about changing the tenor of our politics would employ these kinds of tactics, but its the kind of thing we are seeing every day from Senator Obama and his campaign.

Here is just a small sample of the words they have used to describe Hillary and her campaign: "disingenuous," "divisive," "untruthful," "dishonest," and much more.

Well I'm not going to stand for it, and neither should you. There's no better way to fight back than to show your support for our campaign in the face of these attacks.

Click here to make a contribution and help us fight the negative attacks.

I appreciate everything you're doing to help Hillary win, and I know she does too. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Terry McAuliffe
Chairman, Hillary Clinton for President