Obamessiah a Lyah?

You know, I wasn't really following the Obama/ Deval Patrick not-really-plagiarism thing, thinking no harm, no foul. But Mary Katharine Ham descries why it's actually pretty danged important:

But what the story takes a whack at, effectively, is Obama's authenticity, which is his No. 1 selling point. Hillary's camp is smart to play up the fact that the supreme orator, the Messiah of American politics, the man of change above all else, could really just be another politician with a flair for speechifying, a calculating player with no compunction about inspiring with rehashed copy if it suits his purposes.

This incident will prompt much closer looks at Obama's words from here on out, which will naturally be rougher than the positively orgasmic reviews he's been getting up until now. This is good for Hillary and good for the GOP in the general if he ends up being the nominee.

I think this is part of a last-ditch effort to stop Obama, like the one in our party to stop McCain. Both candidates and voters are still damaged and reeling from that, and I hope it accomplishes as much for the Dems as well.

MORE: To the barricades, comrades!