A REALITY CHECK: “Mere mortals, and we can now count Obama among them, don’t get elected to national office by eschewing cliches, pandering and condescension. I did a show last night on New England Cable News with a black preacher from Boston and a black Obama supporter. Both thought the speech was magnificent because Obama spoke the truth, and the woman thought that Obama had finally laid to rest her fears that Obama didn’t see himself as part of the civil rights struggle. Geez, I can’t think of a worse outcome for the first ‘post-racial’ candidate.”