I've decided that part of the remarkable zeal of Obama's base is rooted in two phenomena: (1) they have convinced themselves that he has already won the nomination (and any deviation from this scenario will destroy the party), and (2) they have pre-blamed Clinton if he loses in November.  This psychology has the effect of allowing Obama partisans to avoid the cognitive dissonance of supporting an increasingly unelectable candidate in an election with such profoundly grave consequences for both the country and the world.

I remember quite clearly the rationalizations of people that supported Nader in the 2000 election ... vote your heart, not your head ... there's no difference between the Republicans and the Democrats ... send a message to the Democratic Party ... Gore is the candidate of a corrupt establishment ... it's just one vote, it won't affect the outcome ... and on, and on, and on.  Do these people feel any guilt, I wonder, for what has transpired over the last 7 years?  Or have they rationalized it away as someone else's fault - not recognizing that all power ultimately lies with each individual voter?  There would certainly have been no war in Iraq under Gore.  Our constitution would certainly be less stained and tattered under Gore.  The economy would certainly not be teetering on the brink of disaster under Gore.  Some climate-driven global catastrophe in the future would certainly be less likely under Gore.  Elections have consequences, serious consequences; and innocent people that deserved so much better have paid a horribly high price for the petulance of the Democrats that supported Nader.

This election cycle, the same sort of petulance (cloaked by Obama's intoxicating rhetoric of hope and change) is close to putting the insurgent candidate at the top of the Democratic ticket.  Unfortunately, on our current trajectory, Obama is almost certainly leading us to a McCain presidency ... and the depredations of what will effectively be a third Bush term.  If this comes to pass, I can already hear the rationalizations from the Obama base.  It was all the Clintons' fault!  Isn't everything?