You can count on two daily occurrences in the Democratic race: Barack Obama brushing off the media and Bill Clinton displaying his self-absorbed and increasingly out-of-touch psyche.

In response to the first, the media continue to get the bum’s rush. But their reaction is meek and mild. This is emblematic:

Journalists in general don’t relish asking politicians questions in awkward situations, like on a golf course or over a waffle. But sometimes our hands are forced: Obama hasn’t given a press conference in 10 days and the questions, some of them — like Hamas — rather important, are starting to build up. If he wins the nomination he’ll be running again John McCain, whose philosophy is to give the press total access to the point of saturation; Obama might consider holding avails with a little more regularity. Then, maybe, reporters would let him to eat in peace.

Whether they are nervous about a gaffe or afraid of further diminishing Obama’s precious aura, there seems to be no sign that the Obama team will allow the candidate to become more accessible anytime soon. It’s more likely that Bill Clinton will exhibit some self-restraint or self-awareness. But that doesn’t seem very probable either. . .