Cute

The liberal blogosphere was aflame today with new accusations that Sen. Barack Obama is trying to win the 2008 presidential election.

There's some truth to what humorist Andy Borowitz has written.

Suspicions about Obama's true motives have been building during the past few weeks, but not until today have the bloggers called him out for betraying the Democratic Party's losing tradition.

"Barack Obama seems to be making a very calculated attempt to win more than 270 electoral votes," wrote liberal blogger Carol Foyler at LibDemWatch.com, a blog read by a half-dozen other liberal bloggers. "He must be stopped."

Democrats do have a self-destructive streak.

But those comments were not nearly as strident as those of Tracy Klugian, whose blog LoseOn.org has backed unsuccessful Democratic candidates since 2000.

"Increasingly, Barack Obama's message is becoming more accessible, appealing and, yes, potentially successful," he wrote. "Any Democrat who voted for Dukakis, Mondale or Kerry should regard this as a betrayal."

It's a question of what price does a voter have to pay to get what he wants? If you're after someone who is willing to commit pulling out of Iraq without concern for what happens in the region, someone who actually believes and is committed to revamping our political system, you have the right to be offended when you find out it was all a ruse.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said that he was "sympathetic" to the concerns of bloggers who worry that their nominee seems stubbornly bent on winning the election, but he warned them that the DNC's "hands are tied."

"If Sen. Obama is really determined to win, I don't think any of us can talk him out of it," Dean said.

At the same time, liberals have also been responsible for promoting silly people, without the instincts or the ruthlessness for national politics - ie, Dukakis, Gore, Kerry - until Clinton pulled off two victories in the 90's. Liberals were never very comfortable with Clinton, and this time they thought they had a guy who was 1) a man of integrity, and 2) someone with the stones to win. They now know that at least half of that was a false hope.

Liberal bloggers said that they would be watching Obama's vice-presidential selection process "very closely" for signs that he is plotting toward a victory in November. "Barack Obama still has a chance to pick someone disastrous as a sign that he wants to lose this thing," Foyler wrote. "If not, he should brace himself for some really mean blog posts."

Imagine how upset they're going to be when they find out that, while he's perfectly willing to do anything to win, that doesn't mean he's going to win.