If your definition of reality depends on the media, you're in deep trouble. The talking heads are already disagreeing with one another about what the benchmarks of victory should be.

Romney contended that "the more time Clinton has to fight Obama, and the more time Obama has to fight Clinton, the better shot John McCain will have to give George W. Bush a third term."

The challenge is whether the recipients of the campaigns' love-bombs can turn the individual attention they're getting into something good and important for the country as a whole.

The power of the president's fear-mongering derives from the same media ecosystem that empowers all terrorists, whether at Ground Zero or Cole Hall at Northern Illinois University.

Can George Bush really imagine that his contempt for checks and balances, and for the Bill of Rights, will one day be compared favorably to Lincoln's boldness in saving the Union?

There's one important issue raised by his race that a legitimate fear of his candidacy's consequences, or a well-earned contempt for his arrogance, should not be allowed to obscure.