On the August 7 edition of CNN Election Center, The Washington Post's Dana Milbank said Sen. Hillary Clinton “must really look like some sort of a poltergeist” to Sen. Barack Obama, adding, “Each time he thinks he has finally finished off Hillary Clinton, she keeps coming back.” Radio host Lars Larson later said, “I have got to tell you, he's thinking of the movie Poltergeist? I'm thinking of Fatal Attraction. And I'm waiting to find out when the bunny turns up in the stew pot.”

In director Adrian Lyne's 1987 film Fatal Attraction, Glenn Close plays Alex Forrest, a woman who begins stalking her co-worker Dan Gallagher and his family following a one-night stand. In the film's climax, Alex attempts to kill Dan's wife, Beth, with a butcher knife while she's preparing for a bath. Dan hears the attack and wrestles Alex into the bathtub, appearing to have drowned her until Alex suddenly springs from the water, wielding the knife at Dan. Alex is then shot by Beth, who had gone to get a gun Dan bought to protect the family from Alex. Earlier in the film, Beth comes home to find their daughters' rabbit boiling on the stove, presumably placed there by Alex.

As Media Matters for America has noted, Monica Crowley, a conservative radio host and panelist on the syndicated program The McLaughlin Group, National Public Radio political editor Ken Rudin, and Atlantic senior editor and blogger Andrew Sullivan have also compared Clinton to Close's character in Fatal Attraction.

From the August 7 edition of CNN Election Center:

BROWN: Dana, you heard what Hillary Clinton said in that YouTube video, a little earlier, that her supporters just need a cathartic moment, and then they're going to get 100 percent behind Senator Obama. What do you think about that?

MILBANK: You know, to Obama, this must really look like some sort of a poltergeist. Each time he thinks he's finally finished off Hillary Clinton, she keeps coming back.

And I'm struck by -- they're sort of saying the right words, but if you look at this joint statement that came out, it's sort of like one of these joint communiqués during nuclear negotiations with the Soviet Union. There's no warmth in there.

And I think we've reached a point where they're just not going to get to that warmth. There's a fundamental conflict here, and that is, it's in Hillary Clinton's interests if she wishes some day to be the president for Obama not to be the president. That's the fundamental conflict here.

BROWN: Lars, what's really going on here?

LARSON: I've got to tell you, he's thinking of the movie Poltergeist, I'm thinking of Fatal Attraction. And I'm waiting to find out when the bunny turns up in the stew pot.

I mean, this woman, she's committed to Obama? How deep in his back does she need to drive a knife? I mean, she wants this nomination, and I think she still sees a chance to get it. He's only ahead of McCain by four points. And I think she might -- she thinks she might be able to talk the convention into giving it to her anyway.