'Pistols at dawn, suh!'

My friend Sean Higgins appropriately captures the spirit of my reply to the Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette, which has neither retracted last week's odious editorial or responded to my e-mail.

They underestimate me, as is their privilege. No one thought I'd actually drive 575 miles to the site where Bill Sparkman's body was found in Kentucky -- but I did. No one thought I'd bring Track-A-'Crat to a wedding in Pittsburgh -- but I did.

And if the editors of the Gazette think they'll never regret their idiocy . . . dear readers, hit the tip jar. Charleston, W. Va., is en route to Clay County, Ky., and I may be going back in a week or two.

BTW, Michelle Malkin's latest column mentions the Sparkman case.

'Retract, Please': Letter to the Editor of the Charleston (W. Va.) Gazette

Dear Sir:
Your Oct. 7 editorial, "Palin Book: Already No. 1," contains factual errors which are defamatory and potentially libelous, to wit: "In 2006, Vincent teamed up with white supremacist Robert Stacy McCain to write a shrill book titled Donkey Cons: Sex, Crime and Corruption in the Democratic Party . . ."

Leave it to critics to judge whether or not Donkey Cons is "shrill" -- I suspect your editorial writer has not bothered to read it -- and ask yourself what authority there is for your assertion that I am a "white supremacist." Were this true, it would certainly come as a surprise to my numerous colleagues and friends, who are quite a panorama of diversity.

In the fourth paragraph of the aforesaid editorial, your writer was at least clever enough to cite two authorities for this defamation:

1. A "former Washington Times reporter," whom we need not name, and whose personal problems -- divorce, unemployment, etc. -- might be considered relevant to his motives for maligning me and for the veracity of his accusations.
2. The Southern Poverty Law Center, which began attacking me in 2000, after I published a feature article based on an interview with Kansas author Laird Wilcox ("Researcher Says 'Watchdogs' Exaggerate Hate Group Threat," 5/9/2000, Page A2, The Washington Times).

The Fifth Amendment of our Constitution means that I am not compelled to deny every false statement made about me. However, my silence cannot be considered proof that such statements are true.

When these accusations were first made, during my employment at The Washington Times, management decided not to respond, as to do so would tend to suggest that the accusers had some credibility. Therefore, I was required to maintain silence, rather than to make any rebuttal. By the time I resigned from the newspaper, in January 2008, to undertake a research trip to Africa, the appropriate time for explaining several falsehoods and misunderstandings had certainly expired.

Over the years, this malicious campaign against my reputation has metastasized spectacularly on the Internet, as individuals and organizations with various political or personal motives have elaborated and repeated them. Some of the original sources for these accusations (e.g., a column by Michelangelo Signorile) contained factual errors, which have been incorporated into the urban-legend mythology, producing a Gordian Knot of non-fact that is not worth the effort it would take to unravel it. Like ancient Alexander, however, I am prepared to swing the sword. Retract, please.

These charges have, as I say, taken on an Internet life of their own. However, never before have they been published in a print newspaper. Whatever malice against the former governor of Alaska inspired your publisher, editors and writers to undertake this false and dishonorable guilt-by-association smear, it was a most foolish blunder. Retract, please.

Having worked as a professional journalist since 1986, I have never forgotten the motto often repeated by those old-school editors who taught me the craft: If your mother says she loves you, check it out.

Hoping for warm friendship in the future, I remain sincerely

Your most humble and obedient servant,

Robert Stacy McCain

Co-author (with Lynn Vincent) of DONKEY CONS: Sex, Crime & Corruption in the Democratic Party

UPDATE: "Gee, Stacy, where did you learn this thing about letters-to-the-editor as a literary genre?" Like I say, sometimes you must ask yourself:

WHAT WOULD HUNTER S. THOMPSON DO?

UPDATE II: Former Washington Times intern Monique Stuart:

Now, for the most part, Stacy is staying above the fray. And, I applaud him for that. He shouldn’t have to defend himself against such wild accusations. And, the truth is, he doesn’t have to. . . .

Read the rest. And don't ever get on Monique's bad side.

'Of course, you know, this means war'

So says the Sage of Poca, Don Surber, in a comment on a post where I made casual reference to the notorious ugliness of West Virginia women.

Since I was in a hurry last night to comment on the insane assertion that Maxine Waters could be one of the "most beautiful" people in Washington (or anywhere else), I saw no need to add attributions, footnotes, bibliography or other documentation to support my journalistic account of what is, after all, an objective fact.

Ask any resident of Kentucky or Maryland about the "butterface" women of the Mountaineer State. Sports reporters dread the day they are assigned to cover a game at WVU, where the cheerleaders are known as "The Two-Bagger Squad."

Even among Pennsylvanians -- who have foisted upon an unwilling world a disproportionate number of those heinous women known locally as "Pittsburgh Bridge Trolls" -- there is this common saying: "Just because she's ugly, doesn't necessarily mean she's from West Virginia."

Should Don Surber wish to provide photographic evidence of a West Virginia woman who is not a poster girl for birth control, he is welcome to do so. Otherwise, I can only refer him to the Ohioans, who universally agree that West Virginia women make even the coyote-ugly girls of Toledo look "sexy" by comparison.

No need, of course, to mention the proverbial advice commonly given to desperate and unattractive men in Charlottesville, Staunton and other parts of the Old Dominion: "Either go gay or go to W-V-A." (Which most folks in Richmond consider to be less strictly a comment on the looks of West Virginia women than an allusion to their infamous promiscuity.)

The point is that this is not my opinion, but an objective fact, verifiable by testimony of millions of witnesses. My personal opinion is moot, and not merely because I am a professional journalist.
Like Dr. James Joyner, my judgment of beauty is permanently biased by having attended college in Alabama, where at least two-thirds of Waffle House waitresses are more attractive than whatever tragedy of aesthetics is annually dubbed "Miss West Virginia."

UPDATE: Jimmie Bise is from the Eastern Shore of Maryland, a popular vacation destination for women from West Virginia. Jimmie says this is why folks in Ocean City refer to August as the "Dog Days of Summer."

Obama attacks Pennsylvania!

If you attack coal, you're attacking Pennsylvania, and guess what Obama told his rich friends in San Francisco?

So, if somebody wants to build a coal plant, they can — it’s just that it will bankrupt them, because they are going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that’s being emitted.

Guess Obama can kiss West Virginia good-bye, too.

The media's anointed One

John McCain aide Mark Salter complains bitterly about how totally in the tank the media is for Obama, and Tom Bevan recalls that Hillary Clinton's aides had the same complaint.

The longer the Democratic primary campaign lasted, the more the national press corps acted like they were on Obama's payroll. I'll never forget that day in Shepherdstown, W.Va., right after the North Carolina primary, when this fat, obnoxious CBS reporter more or less told Hillary to quit:

Does her vow to keep fighting, asked one network TV reporter, mean that Clinton will continue her campaign all the way until the vote on the convention floor in Denver?
"I'm staying in this race until there's a nominee, and I obviously am going to work as hard as I can to become that nominee," she answered. "So we will continue to contest these elections and move forward."
The reporter fired back with a follow-up question: "But what do you say to those Democrats who fear that you're putting the Democratic Party's chances at risk by...continuing to stay in?"

Honestly, who were "those Democrats" whose fears that jerk from CBS was expressing? Him and his liberal buddies on the press bus, that's who.

Americans should remember this well. If the Obama presidency goes bad wrong -- and does anyone seriously expect it to go well? -- it was the media who elected him. Those biased bastards like that guy from CBS will bear a huge responsibility for the result.

Confused women in W. Va.

A mass mailing leads to mass confusion:

The Secretary of State's office is reminding first-time voters that the deadline to register to vote in Tuesday's primary already has passed.
Betty Ireland said she's worried that a mass mailing aimed at getting young women in West Virginia to register to vote might cause confusion.
A group called "Women's Voices. Women Vote" sent out more than 16,000 mailers to unmarried women in the state after April 22, the last day to register in time to vote Tuesday.
People who've never voted can still register, but they won't be eligible to cast a ballot in the primary.

Confused women, running late. No surprise there.

You may remember "Women's Voices. Women Vote" (WVWV) as the group responsible for the suspicious North Carolina robo-calls. WVWV has received grants from the left-wing Tides Foundation. In March, WVWV was one of several groups (including La Raza, ACORN, Move.org and the AFL-CIO) that announced a coalition to make "the most expensive mobilization in history" for voter turnout this year.

Can't wait to see Don Surber's reaction to this news. What? West Virginia women weren't confused enough already, without these "outside agitators" coming in to confuse them further?

Hillary's volunteers

Georgetown University law professor Heidi Li Feldman hits the road for Hillary, cross-posting at Taylor Marsh's site:

I am passing through Boonsboro, on the cusp of West Virginia. Not 100 miles from DC and we are in the Shenandoah mountains. Farms, cows. More cows. Getting out this way sparks many thoughts. ...

Actually, Dr. Feldman (since Boonsboro is just a few miles down MD-66 from my house) you're in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The Shenandoah Valley (like the river for which it is named) is south of the Potomac River, on the Virginia/West Virginia side.

But yeah, "farms, cows" -- although most people in rural areas nowadays aren't farmers and don't live on farms. They live in the small towns or in the new developments. Many are retirees, but others commute to jobs in bigger places like Frederick, Hagerstown, Martinsburg or the Dulles region. I commuted all the way from Hagerstown to DC (about 150 miles round-trip) five days a week for nearly five years. Dr. Feldman continues:

Literally just crossed into West Va. Crossed the Potomac after Antietam Battleground. Not far from Harper's Ferry where John Brown made abolitionism famous. Not a bad jumping off spot to fight for the cause. ...

Antietam National Battlefield Park, to be exact. I'd be happy to give you a guided tour sometime (my Facebook profile picture was taken at Burnside's Bridge). And abolitionism hadn't been exactly obscure before the perpetrator of the Pottawatomie massacre showed up in the Old Dominion. But I digress. Back to Dr. Feldman:

Headed straight to the Clinton campaign office. Just saw the first Clinton yard sign just outside of Shepardstown.

Shepherdstown, where I covered Hillary and Chelsea on Wednesday. Back to Dr. Feldman:

Campaign staff in Charlestown: Clinton roaring in other parts of West Va., but in this pocket, eastern area, things are tighter. So they were delighted to have us turn up. We headed out with signs and spirit. ...
Hit the campaign office in Charlestown, West Virginia at 3:30 or so. Focus for the day: visibility. Paint the town with a presence for Senator Clinton.

This is what's called a "honk-and-wave." Perhaps not the ideal way for a campaign to utilize the skills of a Georgetown law professor. The Eastern Panhandle is the most affluent part of West Virginia (lots of prosperous retirees), it's home to Shepherd University, and also has a larger black population than the rest of the state, so it is one of the better Obama regions. Other Obama bastions in the state are Morgantown (where the state university is located) and the state capital, Charleston (not to be confused with Charles Town). Dr. Feldman continues:

Erin and I, another out-of-stater who had arrived to help, gear up. I put stickers all over myself, grab a placard. Erin, grabs a big triple sign. The campaign asks us to go to Martinsburg, a town about 20 miles away. Nisha, the campaign rep, explains that there is a major mall there and they need us to get people's attention. . . . I slap a sticker on my forehead. But Erin makes me take it off, which I do only because she sticks some extras on my back.

At this point in the narrative, I was wondering: "Who's Erin?" Is she the "loyal spouse" referred to as providing "crucial help" in Dr. Feldman's personal blog? One of those "Massachusetts marriages"? Couldn't find enough biographical material online to confirm or deny such a suspicion, although Dr. Feldman does refer to her "calico catties," which means she's definitely . . a cat blogger. (Lesbians I can cope with. Cat-blogging law professors? Shudder.) Dr. Feldman continues:

Erin is a champion hand-waver. She just connects with the drivers who see her waving. Meanwhile, in my demure and shy way, I'm jumping up and down with my placard. Right away we get positive feedback: many folks -- of all ages and races (many blacks, many whites, some browns) -- give us a thumbs up. If they honk for Hillary, I do a little jig for them and that seems to make the next car inclined to honk too. Meanwhile, the brave Erin kindly continues to act like she knows me and is not afraid.
Of course, not everybody who sees us is so thrilled we are there. Most are courteous, a very few quite rude. The occasional person shouts to us, in a not unfriendly way, "I like Obama." To anybody who shouts out this difference of opinion in a civilized manner, I shout back: "Free speech -- I love that!" And I do. Often, the other person gives me a smile and a wave.

I like how Dr. Feldman makes mention of the diversity (blacks, whites, browns) of the passersby in West Virginia, as if to point out it's not all toothless hillbillies. I wonder if the "few very rude" reactions are (a) Obama supporters, or (b) Republicans who haven't gotten the "Operation Chaos" message yet. Dr. Feldman continues:

Martinsburg is a like a lot of towns in this country. There are literally two sides of the tracks. We are at the mall on the less wealthy side. The area is not poverty-stricken, but it is just the sort of place that needs somebody with Senator Clinton's economic plans and commitment to universal healthcare. And it is easy to see why Senator Clinton can win West Virginia in a match up against John McCain. These people seem down to earth, they know about needing energy and commonsense to solve problems. Senator Clinton's style and ideas definitely seem to resonate with them.

Among the reasons Martinsburg is not "poverty-stricken" is that, for starters, it sits alongside I-81, about 20 miles south of I-70 and about 40 miles north of I-66.

That is to say: Taxpayer investments in transportation infrastructure have helped spur economic development in the lower Shenandoah Valley. Down in Georgia, where I come from, every small-town Chamber of Commerce is all about roads, roads, roads, because they know that means jobs, jobs, jobs, which in turn means growth, growth, growth. Build good roads, keep the taxes low, educate your workforce, and the jobs will come. (Right-to-work laws are also a big help.)

Martinsburg has benefitted economically from its proximity to Virginia, which has followed the same "Sun Belt" growth strategy as Georgia, while politicians in West Virginia have been slow to figure it out. For so long, West Virginia was all about resource extraction, and seems to have developed a class-warfare politics with the mine operators and the UMW as the dominant competing interests.

But once coal-mining was mechanized (resulting in greater efficiency and fewer of those pick-and-shovel jobs) West Virginia seems to have had a hard time letting go of the industrial-era politics of the past. Thank God that Georgia had forward-looking political and business leaders, or Georgians would still be sitting around, poor as dirt, complaining about low cotton prices and the closing of the textile mills.

OK, so much for the lecture on political economy and post-industrial development. Back to Dr. Feldman:

I drove a a 30 or 40 mile circuit around the area today. Lawn signs everywhere: in front of homes, at intersections, alongside farmers' fields. Signs for mayoral candidates. Signs for people running for sheriff. Signs for people running for county clerk. And in one patch, big signs saying "No Zoning" - obviously in that area there's a ballot question on the issue! . . .

God bless the anti-zoning people. Zoning is fascism, a violation of property rights. Back to Dr. Feldman:

Saw some [signs] for Senator Clinton, some for Senator Obama. No clear majority either way, based on my entirely unscientific viewing. What stood out loud and clear was an absence of McCain signs - although there were a fair number of ones for Ron Paul. Guess what this means? Based on what I can see of their signs, the people of West Virginia are not jumping to vote for John McCain. But the Democratic Party has to give them a candidate they can get behind, who will bring them to the polls to vote Democrat in November.

We'll see. Counting yard signs in May isn't likely to tell us much about election returns in November. Paying too much attention to broad trends in partisan alignment can lead to overlooking the fact that elections come down to the candidates. A good Democratic candidate can win in a Republican state (e.g., Webb in Virginia) and a good Republican candidate can win in a Democratic state (e.g., Schwarzenegger in California).

Dr. Feldman's comment about the number of Ron Paul signs echoes the remarks of an Obama operative in West Virginia I spoke to last week. This operative, a young Harvard grad, was impressed with the level of support for Ron Paul he'd encountered in the state.

A big part of the Ron Paul boom is anti-war conservatives, and another part is hard-core First/Second Amendment types who don't appreciate being muzzled by McCain-Feingold. A big part is undoubtedly the libertarian "Potheads for Paul" factor: People who (a) like low taxes and (b) don't want The Man kicking down their doors to seize their weed. West Virginia is apparently home to a goodly number of these free-market aficionados of the illegal smile.

Ultimately, the 2008 presidential race may boil down to whether Ron Paul's "Weed, Not War" vote can be corralled by the former CIA man, former federal prosecutor, former Republican congressman, and National Rifle Association board member who authored the first congressional resolution to call for the impeachment of Mrs. Clinton's husband (before the Monica Lewinsky scandal). And Bob Barr is holding a press conference Monday.

Hillbillies hate Hope

OK, it's probably unfair to stigmatize West Virginians with the word "hillbillies" -- contrary to stereotypes, it's not all incest, moonshine and bad teeth over there -- but they really don't seem to dig Obama:

In Hardy County, Democrats outnumber Republicans more than 2 to 1. But there is little enthusiasm for Barack Obama in this mountainside enclave, a portent of trouble for the Illinois senator in next week's West Virginia primary and the general election beyond.
Nearly 97% white, the county is as conflicted as any rural and working-class Democratic bastion as it struggles to adjust to the likely prospect of the party nominating its first African American presidential candidate.

The L.A. Times reporter then gets quotes from Democratic mouthpieces to help him develop the none-too-subtle theme that anybody who votes Republican in November is a racist:

"My worry is there's just too many people in this country who aren't ready to elect a black president," said Charles L. Silliman, a retired Air Force officer who is Hardy County's Democratic Party co-chairman. "There's a lot to like about him. But I'm just afraid that too many people will vote against him based on their fears and prejudice."

Never mind the elitism, the "57 states," the radical anti-American preacher, the Hamas connection, the Weather Underground connection -- never mind any of that, and never mind that policy-wise, Obama's just a clone of John Kerry.

No, none of that matters at all. The L.A. Times knows why you don't support Obama, you inbred banjo-plucking bigots.

Please note that it is the Democrats and the MSM -- is that redundant? -- who are setting up this election as a referendum on racial rectitude. Except for his Philadelphia speech, Obama himself has tried to avoid making race front-and-center in his campaign, but the Democrats and the media just won't let well enough alone.

We're going to hear this theme endlessly reiterated for the next six months. Win, lose or draw, the MSM will portray the November results as a plebiscite on ethnic tolerance. If Obama wins, we'll get two months of uninterrupted op-eds and Page One analyses of "what it means." If Obama loses, the MSM will tout it as permanent proof of endemic American racism.

The worst part? The only way to prevent this nightmare is for Hillary Clinton to steal the nomination. So thank you, MSM, for forcing Americans to pray for a Clintonian swindle.

UPDATE: Dan Riehl has a similar reaction:

The media obsession with the racism meme, without acknowledging the entire picture, is simply a symptom of a media that's stuck on old stupid, offering little if any genuinely intelligent, deep, or honest analysis of the entire picture.

Yet the media swoons for Obamessiah, and anyone who doesn't share Chris Matthews' tingles is a benighted bigot.

UPDATE II: Wow, even liberal Democrats like Jerome Armstrong are getting tired of the racism meme:

I'd humbly suggest, to all the Obama supporters that join us here on this blog, that if you can't stand the heat of the West Virginia primary, you stay out of the kitchen. While I'm at it, I also suggest that you refrain from accusations against West Virginians as being racist. . . .
Racism is ignorance, but unfounded accusations of racism are just as low on the scum-radar.

This is probably as good a place as any to recount a conversation I had yesterday with my brother Kirby, who's a truck driver in Georgia -- and also one of the most insightful political analysts I know. Kirby said that these bogus accusations of racism are going to destroy the Democrats in the general election if Obama is their nominee.

Every bit of negative news for Obama -- every gaffe, every scandal, every time he dips in the polls -- is going to be viewed through the prism of race by the media and the Democrats, who are then going to use it to spin this theme: If you don't like Obama, you're a racist. And nothing infuriates the white working class more than bogus accusations of racism.

Kirby said that the backlash against this tactic could be so bad that it could even put California in play. I scoffed at this, but Kirby was serious. "Think about it, Stacy. They've got Schwarzenegger as governor out there. . . . If the Democrats have to fight for California, it's going to be a serious drain on their resources."

Kirby suggested the possibility of an electoral blowout along the lines of 1972 or '84, which I consider unlikely, but he's definitely got a point about the explosive danger to Democrats if they overplay the race card.

Working-class whites don't have the reflexive "white guilt" reaction toward minorities that is so common among the affluent elite. When you start pointing the finger of "racism" at the white guy who's punching a clock and struggling to pay his bills, what he hears is, "Feel sorry for me." And his reaction is, "WTF?" It's not that he's about "hate," it's just that his life is hard enough that he doesn't have time to go around oozing empathy toward others.

I think this is part of what Team Clinton has been trying to explain about the demographic trends in the Democratic primaries, though without much success. Paul Begala's "eggheads and African-Americans" quote might sound callous, but it touches on the danger to Democrats if they nominate a candidate who alienates white working-class voters. John Kerry's snooty attitude hurt him in this regard, and it's not hard to imagine Obama having a similar problem -- especially if you get a bunch of talking heads on TV insinuating that opposition to Obama is purely a function of white bigotry.

If I were handling media for Team Obama, I'd be coming down like a hammer on anybody in the MSM who's playing on this racism meme. The dynamic is a lot more complex than that, and there's serious potential that this could generate a backlash.

For years, Kirby has been tipping me to "under-the-radar" stuff that people inside the Beltway don't notice, and he's very perceptive -- like the time he alerted me that Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes had alienated school teachers, a harbinger of the historic Republican midterm sweep of the state in 2002. When Kirby forecasts trouble for Democrats in November, I feel obligated to record his forecast. He's been right about these things so often, and it's fun to point out that sometimes the big-shot pundits have less political insight than a truck driver.

UPDATE III: How many truck drivers does Andrew Sullivan know? . . . Wait a minute. I'm not sure I want to know the answer to that question.

UPDATE IV: Linked by Don Surber, who notes:

Perhaps if Obama actually tried to win here, he could. But Obama has spent more time in the Virgin Islands than he has spent here.
Of course, he evidently thinks the Virgin Islands is a state.
To be sure, the Chicago political machine has sent a squad or two down here. But it is more like a training exercise for teh young. Cannon fodder.
The main team is elsewhere, perhaps catching its breath.

Yeah, lots of GOTV and honk-and-waves on Team Obama's West Virginia schedule, but no Obama. Maybe they're afraid one of those toothless moonshiners might mistake Obama for a revenuer and blast him his shootin' iron.

Clinton campaign scrambling?

Yesterday, Allahpundit posted a link to an online invitation to a Mother's Day fundraiser at the Sheraton in New York featuring Hillary and Chelsea Clinton. That event is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, the Clinton campaign's West Virginia press office this morning sent out a media update that included this:

Hillary and Chelsea will hold a Mother's Day celebration in West Virginia on Sunday.

No time or location stated, which suggests to me that the scheduling is still up in the air. And with that 1:30 p.m. event scheduled in New York, it becomes like one of those word problems in the 6th-grade math textbook:

Charleston, W. Va., is 500 miles from New York City. Hillary Clinton has a 1:30 p.m. event at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown New York. If she wants to schedule a morning event in Charleston, what time should she schedule it, in order to be sure she's not late for her New York event? Please calculate this problem based on private jet travel from Yeager Airport to LaGuardia, allowing time for landing delays at LaGuardia and traffic congestion between LaGuardia and the Sheraton.

Obviously, you'd want your West Virginia event to be Sunday morning, so that TV coverage of the Mother's Day message would be seen during both the noon and evening local newscasts. But that 1:30 fundraiser in New York puts you on a short leash in terms of logistics and scheduling.

So, as of 10 a.m. Saturday, the Clinton campaign couldn't even give the media a time and location for the Sunday event it was promoting. Looks like piss-poor planning, and an overworked staff now trying to improvise a schedule at the last minute.

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.: