I am sure that the media will now focus on the very real problem that Barack Obama will have in uniting the base. After all, for months, well after the polls showed any evidence of significant division in the Republican base, we were treated to a daily dose of “conservatives aren’t happy” stories about John McCain. So now that there are real, not imagined threats of defections, especially with older women, among Democrats we should be checking their pulse daily, right? Geraldine, are you fully satisfied today?

But whether the press chooses to focus on them or not, the real concerns of many of Hillary Clinton supporters, be they men or women, will need to be addressed. And unlike McCain, Obama cannot solve these by meeting the base on policy grounds (as McCain did on judges). The reason many Clinton supporters rejected him were personal — his qualifications and his unpreparedness to be commander-in-chief. And if you don’t believe me, you can read their comments directly. If those concerns are genuine, and they sound so, then the choice of a VP or an appeal on abortion rights may not do the trick.