It's Getting Intense Out There

It's getting pretty hot in the campaign kitchen these days and tensions are rising between the candidates and between the campaigns and the press. We're not yet in Britney Spears territory but the unblinking eyes of the cameras are catching some interesting moments.

Yesterday, former President Clinton got into a heated debate with a local reporter from California over perceptions that the Clinton campaign is behind a lawsuit seeking to prevent the Nevada Democratic Party from holding caucuses in Casinos this weekend. The arrangement should help Barack Obama after he received the endorsement from the state's powerful Culinary union and was filed by the Nevada teacher's union which is seen as friendly to Clinton.

And the candidates themselves aren't always pleased with the questions they're getting from the press. During a question and answer session with reporters this morning, Mitt Romney took offense to the suggestion by one journalist that he was not being entirely honest when he denied that lobbyists are helping to run his campaign. CBS News' Scott Conroy reports that the exchange was over Ron Kaufman, a well-known lobbyist Romney campaign adviser who is often seen by the governor's side while on the road. Romney pointed out that Kaufman is unpaid and does not attend senior strategy meetings.