It is quite possible, as John suggests, that in the end Barack Obama will stumble into the nomination. But there are signs that Hillary Clinton’s hopes are not yet extinguished. She got the endorsement of another key governor, this time in North Carolina. Leftwing bloggers are “surprised” that Clinton now bests Obama among independents. Really? Could it be he’s lost his main selling point, namely his “appeal to independents [which] is central to the argument for his electability”?

Even more telling is that, in addition to the frowns from the pundit class, Obama’s now getting awful coverage from the working press. Does this mean he’s done for? No, but he needs to get the chatter off Wright, pull out a win in Indiana, meet expectations in North Carolina, and get his poll numbers with independents (and in the head-to-head match up against McCain) squared away. All of this is doable. But it sure doesn’t sound as easy as it might have a week or so ago.