By the time he's finished, Obama will have made the Clintons look scrupulous.

Obama's long march to the center has begun.

And why not? What's the downside? He won't lose the left, or even mainstream Democrats. They won't stay home on Nov. 4. The anti-Bush, anti-Republican sentiment is simply too strong. Election Day is their day of revenge -- for the Florida recount, for Swift-boating, for all the injuries, real and imagined, dealt out by Republicans over the past eight years.

Normally, flip-flopping presidential candidates have to worry about the press. Not Obama....

The truth about Obama is uncomplicated. He is just a politician (though of unusual skill and ambition). The man who dared say it plainly is the man who knows Obama all too well. "He does what politicians do," explained Jeremiah Wright.

When it's time to throw campaign finance reform, telecom accountability, NAFTA renegotiation or Jeremiah Wright overboard, Obama is not sentimental. He does not hesitate. He tosses lustily.

Easy for me to say. But maybe the voters won't care. They have a long history of enjoying hucksterism. That's because bamboozling is an art form, and Americans are connoisseurs. Here's critically acclaimed rerun:

AFTERTHOUGHT: The problem for me is that all these criticisms seemed repetitive in March and April. The problem for the country is that most of the voters haven't even heard them. So, impatient bloggers like me will have moved on -- largely out of boredom and tedium -- from what most people will never have heard.

So what am I supposed to do? Repeat myself in the hope of "reaching people" who don't even read blogs? That would be more than just boring and tedious; it would be idle and self-important.