"the hottest property in this year's Senate races"

So says Time of Illinois's Barack Obama. And E.J. Dionne, Jr., in Friday's Washington Post, similarly swooned: "if there is a media darling in this year's election, it is the 42-year-old Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate from Illinois. Obama has been the subject of sympathetic profiles in the New Yorker and the New Republic, and more national attention is on its way. Already there's speculation that he may be the first African American president of the United States--and he's only a state senator....Obama is someone who can make staunchly progressive positions sound moderate by being quietly reasonable."

I almost feel sorry for the Illinois Republicans. Their guy, already down 20+ points in the polls, has now had to drop out after his divorce papers revealed that his private life is just as disgusting as his political views.

True, the Republicans get to hand-pick someone to run against Obama. But Barack seemingly doesn't even have to campaign to get oodles of free press. If only John Kerry could do the same.