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The Architect sketches the blueprint for the image he wants Republicans to construct for Barack Obama:

The candidate's self-centeredness has been on display before. Having effectively sewed up the Democratic nomination, he could have agreed to seat the Florida and Michigan delegations (states Hillary Clinton had carried). While reducing his lead by 50 to 55 delegates, it would not have altered the outcome. But Mr. Obama supported cutting these battleground-state delegations in half. At a time when magnanimity was called for, the candidate decided he'd strut.

Rove calls for John McCain to "paint his opponent as someone driven by an all-powerful instinct to look out only for himself," but I doubt McCain would make such attacks himself. His Republican surrogates can be expected to push that portrayal, however, and the question will be whether Obama keeps making moves that will cause the mainstream media to incorporate this image -- the Democrat as an arrogant, selfish, narcissistic elitist -- into their narrative.

If Rove's Jedi mind trick works and he's able to get MSM reporters telling his version of the Obama story, it could go a long way to wiping out the "enthusiasm gap" that the Democrats' handlers seem to be banking on. The idealistic acolytes of Hope and Change will be decidely less enthusiastic if they start viewing the nominee as a self-serving snob.

topics:
John McCain, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Mainstream Media