This one sounds like the classic scam run at the beginning of “The Sting.” In that case a poor choice of marks resulted in the rest of the movie.

Elijah: One moment we hear John McCain is a Maverick and a “New kind of Republican” and the next we hear he is the same old, same old — and from the same old people. Back when I used to read Andrew Sullivan he was dizzy for the now “shitty” McCain. Sen Obama is the current apple of his eye. Changeable weather there on the Cape: The winds can blow one this way and that.

Obama is such an unknown quantity (with an iffy past to boot) that the Mainstream Media and the Democratic Party are in effect vouching for him. They are playing the role of the Gray Lady who tells the mark to pony up the 20 grand because the Grey Lady has such faith in the man pulling the scam she will likewise, and confidently, take the risk. The mark, in this case, are the People of the United States of America. It could prove a poor choice.

Now, if the lotto ticket we buy turns out to be good, the MSM and the Democratic Party will benefit. But if it turns out bad, the downside risk for them is huge. There is a reason why grifters are also drifters: you hang around, you get tarred and feathered like The King and The Duke in The Adventures of Hukleberry Finn.

Now, you can compare the choice here to George Bush in 2000 or even Jimmy Carter in ’76. But they were both former governors and their former dicey associations were not wished away by the Media (in the case of Mr. Bush they were highlighted). The Media gave us Dubya as middle aged drunk, not a youthful experimenter and why are you even bringing it up? Are you profiling? Playing the race card? Sen. Obama’s rationalizations for past associations where accepted with an enthusiasm that is at times almost unseemly (that Obama glow does not come from sweat).

The Media has placed an especially heavy bet. If Sen. Obama loses, they lose because they could not swing the voters. If he wins and then bombs as President, they lose even more. How would the Gray Lady look in suit of tar and feathers?

If Obama loses their confidence, expect them to pull the plug on him quick. Right now they seem “all in” and he sometimes acts like he owns them: but not yet and not by a long shot. He still needs their vouch.