Obama's elitism battle. . .

. . .is going to plague him for some time to come. It's one of those problems that sink into the American consciousness and stay there like an earwig. There's very little he can do to rid himself of the image. He could try eating potted meat sandwiches at a Saturday night dirt track race, but that carries the risk of looking like the Democrat counterpart to M.C. Rove.

The one thing I would avoid if I were in his shoes would be to have Katrina vanden Heuvel ride to my rescue. I'm sure she means well, but she's got to understand that, of all the things people are going to say in his defense, none of them are going to begin with the words, "As Katrina vanden Heuvel points out. . ." That would be akin to having Barry Bonds write a blurb for your book on sportsmanship.

But, please, Katrina. Do go on.