The perfect political profile for our time is a manly, youthful, glib, and, yes, "cool" outsider. Such a man (and especially such an African American man who distances himself from the older "establishment" African American men) would seem well positioned to defeat both a schoolmarmish woman and an old, experienced man. Obama is cool but still basically unthreatening or unradical...I still think Hillary beats him, but I have no argument on why.

If youthfulness was all it took to make an appealing candidate, then Obama would obviously be much harder to spot among his colleagues. I know very little about the man (like most of us) but what’s appealing to me is that he doesn’t seem insane. Just a sensible, intelligent guy. This transcends age.

Daniel K. is making my point for me. He doesn’t seem insane or weird in any distinguishable way. Also, he does not seem angry. All things that bode well for him. I may be going out on a limb here and I’ve never been a good prognosticator, but I think Hillary is in trouble with this guy. I further think that that’s why she is alluding to his former ties to Islam. I don’t know if Obama will be the nominee . . . I think the Dems won’t have the sense in the end to go ahead and do it. I think that will be a mistake on their part. But I also don’t think Hillary has it sown up by any stretch of the imagination. A protracted fight between Obama and HC could lead to the ascension of someone else entirely. John Edwards may be the one who benefits most from this fight.