CONVENTIONAL WISDOM WATCH.

To follow up on what I wrote earlier about the Democratic race, David Brooks argues today that this past week has actually been bad for Clinton, not Obama, by noting three phenomena: Obama successfully weathered the Jeremiah Wright flap without suffering permanent campaign damage; re-votes were prevented in Michigan and Florida; the superdelegates are beginning to accept that they must line up behind the pledged delegate winner. Brooks drops Hillary's electability chances from 10 to 5 percernt for these reasons, and then spends the rest of his column describing how terrible it will be for the party for her to proceed on such a slim chance.

I'm not sure if I agree about Michigan and Florida; just because they aren't re-voting doesn't mean we know how their delegates are going to be counted -- if they are to be counted at all. And that uncertainty makes it difficult to pin down uncommitted superdelegates; one suspects they shy away from having to make the tough decision, even though it is clear they are going to have to make that decision eventually. Like it or not, the party leadership is going to have to step in and actually lead; that is, if they want a nominee now, instead of after three months of intraparty infighting while John McCain gets a free ride.

--Mori Dinauer