What Obama means

As noted by pro-Clinton blogger Talk Left, polls point to a double-digit win for Hillary in West Virginia, which apparently doesn't matter. Just like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida and Michigan, the preferences of the majority of Democratic voters in West Virginia are irrelevant to the DNC superdelegates.

Another Democrat, Chris Bowers, sees Obama's apparent triumph as portending a "cultural shift" in the Democratic Party:

Out with Bubbas, up with Creatives: There should be a major cultural shift in the party, where the southern Dems and Liebercrat elite will be largely replaced by rising creative class types. . . . These will be the type of people running the Democratic Party now, and it will be a big cultural shift from the white working class focus of earlier decades. Given the demographics of the blogosphere, in all likelihood, this is a socioeconomic and cultural demographic into which you fit. Culturally, the Democratic Party will feel pretty normal to netroots types. It will consistently send out cultural signals designed to appeal primarily to the creative class instead of rich donors and the white working class.

The one possible glitch in Bowers' analysis is his assumption that Obama will win in November. There are now many omens that November 2008 will be a repeat of the McGovern, Dukakis and Kerry experiences.

Elite liberalism with radical baggage is not a winning political recipe, which is a major reason why only two Democrats have been elected president since 1964. Both Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, with their Southern origins and downhome demeanors, were able to convince Americans (in Clinton's case, mere pluralities of 43% in 1992 and 49% in '96) that they weren't cookie-cutter liberals. Obama offers no such pretense.

Look on the bright side, Democrats: Now you'll get to answer your hypothetical what-might-have-been scenario from 2004, and see what the outcome would look like had Howard Dean avoided his "yearrrgghh!" meltdown in Iowa and won the Democratic nomination.

Meanwhile, Don Surber catches this video of Bill Clinton arguing with a disruptive Democrat in Fayetteville, W.Va.: