The front page of today's New York Daily News said it all.

In between pictures of Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, read the words: "Two Years Of This?"

That said it all because it not only summed up the inherent silliness of a spat over the opinions of a single private citizen not working on any campaign.

It also spoke to this irony: it wouldn't be "Two Years Of This" if media outlets like the Daily News didn't choose to put such silly stories on their covers.

But it's not just the media.

The Clinton and Obama camps fed the story with their heated statements and counterstatements. They treated Geffen's comments as legit news that needed a response.

All the candidates need to understand that how they spar with each other reflects not just on themselves, but on the entire Democratic Party.

When they get into a juvenile whine-fest over the comments of a Hollywood donor, it makes the whole party look like the ridiculous limousine liberal stereotype that conservatives have been cultivating.

To prevent "Two Years Of This," all the candidates should get together and make an informal pact.

They should agree not to let the media lead them by nose.

They should agree not to comment on manufactured conflicts that have nothing to do with the issues voters care about.

This is a long campaign. That can be a good thing.

The extra time can give the voters the ability to fully understand the issues and make an informed decision about who can best handle the issues.

And if the voters see a principled fight between the candidates over the issues, the party will come out stronger for it in the end.

But if the candidates think they can triumph by making their rivals look bad over trivial matters, then the entire party will look trivial for the rest of the year.