That's what I get for sending the email out!

I had a really good post in my head regarding this terrific post by Sara Robinson at Orcinus earlier today, which I sent to my email list, including GoldnI.

Damned if she didn't beat me to it, so you'll just have to go here to read her commentary after you read Sara's post.

Update: so, GoldnI wants to know what I think, so here goes.

First, let me quote Sara:

So if Obamamania doesn't come close to making the cut as a "cult," then just what the hell is going on there?

What's going on is that we've finally got a Democratic candidate who understands exactly how the Republicans did it. As I pointed out my very first week on this blog, the GOP didn't come to power by talking about plans and policies; they did it by using strongly emotional appeals that grabbed people by the gut and didn't let them go. Theirs was never a movement based on reason. It was, from the very beginning, a movement of hearts and souls. And it was that deep, emotionally sustaining commitment that drew people in so deeply that they were willing to give 25 years of their lives to bringing about the New World Order their leaders promised them. We may hate what they've accomplished -- but we're never going to be able to do better until we can inspire that same kind of passion for change.

This reminds me of something Steve Cohen once said about Phil Bredesen: He's a manager, not a leader.  That's the difference between Obama and Clinton: he's a leader and she's a manager.  She is just not the type of person to bring about wholesale change, the type that Obama wants, and his supporters want even more.

Sara continues:

The energy of Obama's rallies scares the hell out of reason-bound, well-educated liberals; but it's nothing new to anyone who's spent time in the overheated revival-meeting atmosphere that conservative politicians have used to rouse their voters for decades. Stirring up their base in exactly this same way is how they won. Our chronic inability to move people like that is why we've continued to lose.

Hillary is going the old route, with more plans and promises. And she's losing. Obama is trying something that's new to Democratic politics -- but that also has a proven track record when it comes to raising and consolidating truly transformational movements. In fact: that kind of change simply does not happen unless you've got this kind of committed mass movement.

In short, Hillary is a technocratic tweaker and not a revolutionary.  While Barack Obama is not exactly Che Guevara, he understands how strong the need for change is, and he shows every indication that he will do his damndest to pull it off.