The Image of Adlai

Ed Rendell, the Governor of Pennsylvania, was a big Hillary supporter. And now he's supporting, of course, Barack Obama, but he doesn't sound particularly excited about it.

"With people who have a lot of gifts, it's hard for people to identify with them," the governor said. "Barack Obama is handsome. He's incredibly bright. He's incredibly well spoken, and he's incredibly successful -- not exactly the easiest guy in the world to identify with."

Voicing the concerns of those Hillary supporters who are reluctant to sign on with Barack, Rendell speaks to the underlying sense of many that the wrong candidate has secured the nomination. His decision to speak so frankly betrays, perhaps, a hope that somehow, at this late moment, something magical could happen to undo the result of the primaries.

"He is a little like Adlai Stevenson," Rendell mused. "You ask him a question, and he gives you a six-minute answer. And the six-minute answer is smart as all get out. It's intellectual. It's well framed. It takes care of all the contingencies. But it's a lousy soundbite."

Adlai Stevenson is the template that George McGovern and John Kerry were made from. Not much of a compliment for The Messiah.