Whistling Past the Graveyard

The denial spewing forth from the Obamaniacs following Hillary's decisive win in Pennsylvania is interesting as a study in abnormal group psychology. (See here, here, here, here, here, and here, to cite just a few obvious examples. I'm sure I could find scores more without too much trouble.)

Now, let's state the obvious right up front: Obama is still substantially ahead and will be the Democratic nominee as long as he can stop the bleeding pretty soon. But it's insane to think that Hillary's win shouldn't cast huge doubts about Obama's ability to win in the general election. Mind you, I'm perfectly happy to have the Democrats deluding themselves. Unlike earlier in the primary, I now have a win-win, or at least a win-don't-lose-very-badly: If Hillary manages to pull this out, she'll pretty much shatter the Democratic Party and McCain will win. If Obama pulls this out, he may not be able to close the deal with Reagan Democrats and McCain will win. And if McCain loses, at least we'll have Obama instead of Hillary.

Meanwhile, this Wall St. Journal editorial is also instructive:

The uproar is the latest confirmation of the special place Mr. Obama holds in the hearts of a good part of the media, a status ensured by their shared political sympathies and his star power. That status has in turn given rise to a tendency to provide generous explanations, and put the best possible gloss on missteps and utterances seriously embarrassing to Mr. Obama.

I can't see how the pressure that will now be put on the press to start using the proctoscope on Obama won't completely remove the warm fuzziness with which his campaign has proceeded. Once he's just another politician, we'll see whether the electorate really wants to lurch that far left.