I was on  the phone with my mother yesterday morning, talking about the Democratic primaries.  Since we last spoke at any length about the campaign, some months ago, her enthusiasm for Obama had dampened a bit.  It was less her perception of Obama that had changed than her perception of his viability as a candidate.  She wasn't that concerned about the Reverend Wright business, but she wondered whether it might impact him in the general election. 

The real surprise was her newfound generosity towards Hillary.  You can't imagine the multiple drubbings I endured for my support of the Clintons in the '90s.  Hillary jokes were raunchy and rampant whenever I was around.  But a funny thing happened on the long slog to the '08 Indiana primary: people started seeing Hillary as a viable candidate in her own right. 

My mother blamed her own Hillary-hating past on Bill, who's been wisely dispatched (or is it exiled?) to rural North Carolina while Hillary works the banks of the Wabash.  Being seen as separate from Bill has done her some good in Indiana, seems like.  Her sheer tenacity and her goofy good humor in the face of a hostile press and an opponent who often comes off as a bit too self-assured (some might even say smug) for his own good, has convinced some hardcore skeptics that she's the better bet to beat McCain in the Fall.

Whether this means she'll win in Indiana, and by any kind of margin, is unclear.  But what it definitely means is that commentators who continue to flog the notion that she is more divisive than her opponent are living in the past.  By and large, aside from the hardcore haters, the more people have seen of Hillary, the less they actually hate her.  Sheer exposure has humanized her.  Yes, she's still seen as a scheming triangulater who will stop at nothing to win, but her opponent bowled a 37!  The more they see of Obama, in other words, the more doubts about his bowling abilities they have.   

And Obama's lackluster performance of late can't be blamed on anyone but Obama, himself.  Who told him it would be a good idea to be photographed throwing gutter ball after gutter ball?  If he has not learned, at his age, that you should never be photographed bowling unless you're in the PBA, I think it's legitimate to question what his judgment will be like as President. 

On the bright side, at least he didn't go bowling in public with Rev. Wright and Louis Farrakhan wearing traditional Somali garb and ululating whenever he managed to knock a pin down.  Thankfully, he's learned that much. I'm surprised he hasn't refused, rejected, and repudiated that 37, though.  I'm still waiting for the historic "Bowling Speech." 

So, could the Hillerator still get the nomination?  Rhodes Cook's done the math, and says, don't count her out just yet.  My mother seems philosophical about it.  McCain's too old, she told me.  Obama's too young.  She says she'd be fine with Hillary winning.  She just wishes they'd all leave the state.  "It's been nonstop for the last two weeks," she told me.  "I'm ready for Indiana to go back to not mattering."