Clinton, RNC On Same Page Regarding Obama's Debate Complaint

Political watchers have been debating whether or not the long Democratic nomination battle has harmed the eventual nominee by exposing him or her to the sorts of criticisms Democrats expect from Republicans, not those within their own party.

But while the fallout of the long campaign remains unclear, at least one thing is undeniable: The rhetoric coming from Hillary Clinton and the Republican National Committee in the wake of this week's tense Democratic debate is strikingly similar.

Following the debate, Barack Obama complained that "it took us 45 minutes before we even started talking about a single issue that matters to the American people."

"They like stirring up controversy and they like playing gotcha games, getting us to attack each other," Obama added. "Senator Clinton looked in her element. She was taking every opportunity to get a dig in there. That's her right to kind of twist the knife a little bit ... that's the lesson she learned when Republicans did it to her in the 1990s."

The RNC and Clinton responded to Obama's comments with statements that sound virtually identical notes.

Here's the RNC's Alex Conant: "Bottom line: If Obama’s buckling to 45 minutes of direct questions now, how would he ever handle the responsibilities of the White House?”

And here's Clinton: "And I know he spent all day yesterday complaining about the hard questions he was asked. Being asked tough questions in a debate is nothing like the pressures you face inside the White House."