redblueamerica.com

Ezra Klein suggests that Obama's loss in New Hampshire makes it harder for him to justify his candidacy:

His pitch is so dependent on his ability to enlarge the Democratic coalition and attract new voters that a failure to do so, or a failure to do so in large enough numbers, actually strikes at the heart of his candidacy.

Perhaps. But remember that until Iowa, a big part of Clinton's pitch was her inevitability as the Democratic nominee. Jump on the bandwagon, kids!

And this is why it's a great thing that New Hampshire broke for Clinton, my Obama fondness notwithstanding. Even though the policy differences between the two -- and I'm sorry, but I think John Edwards has gone to Lamar Alexanderville -- are relatively slight, it gives voters more of a chance to get away from questions of aura and simply try to answer the question: Who is the best?