George,

This is such a great question and one I've been thinking about a lot.

My thought: the fact that the new meme is this "messiah/cult" thing is the best evidence yet that this primary season has become one big inkblot test. NOTHING about Obama has changed in the past month. The "messiah" criticism is about us. Just like the Hillary feminism stuff is about us. What this suggests to me is that this horserace is just a way that a crazy narcissistic punditocracy manages to say -- yet again -- "enough about the candidates, let's talk more about us." Blech.

Dahlia Lithwick (electronic mail, February 26, 2008)