In his first election to the state legislature, Barack Obama won in a landslide by getting his opponent, a popular incumbent, kicked off the ballot.  In 2004 he was elected overwhelmingly to the U.S. Senate in a cakewalk where his Republican opponent withdrew because of a sex scandal and was replaced by Alan Keyes.  Until the current Democratic nomination contest, then, it's safe to say that Obama had never won a seriously contested election.  

But, his tough primary campaign against Hillary Clinton has proved he can eke out the tough victories necessary to defeat John McCain and the Republican machine in November... right?  

Washingtonpost.com on Obama's delegate gain outs of Iowa:

"Plouffe said Obama's gains included blue-collar counties where he had finished third in the January caucuses."

Wait... what about the will of the people?  Isn't this a clear example of unpledged, albeit county, delegates overturning the will of caucus goers?  Isn't this basically a county by county iteration of what Obama surrogates like Nancy Pelosi are up in arms about?  But because in this case the process favors Obama it's not only perfectly legitimate, but something to brag about.  Speaker Pelosi, where's your concern for the will of the people in these Iowa counties?

Of course the Obama people are denying it.  But then, they and their candidate aren't exactly known for rushing to take responsibility for anything.  

From the memo summarizing conversation with Goolsbee, which was circulated widely within the Canadian government:

"Noting anxiety among many U.S. domestic audiences about the U.S. economic outlook, Goolsbee candidly acknowledged the protectionist sentiment that has emerged, particularly in the Midwest, during the primary campaign. He cautioned that this messaging should not be taken out of context and should be viewed as more about political positioning than a clear articulation of policy plans."

Read the article at http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jrFPk leRZmbmPtPxHBGNAPSzfUtwD8V5OLP00