The New York Times euphorically recounts the scene this weekend at Wesleyan University when word came down that Barack Obama would “pinch hit, Indiana Jones-style”–the reporter’s balanced interpretation of the heroic nature of Obama stepping up to a mic in front of a crowd of college kids (!)–for ailing Ted Kennedy. Here’s a snippet:

Let’s face it, Wesleyan’s getting Mr. Obama as a last minute graduation speaker, even if under trying circumstances, was a little like Notre Dame getting the pope.

“Everyone found out at the same time after we put it on our web page,” said Holly Wood (yes, but she’s actually just a working-class kid from the Poconos), co-founder of a widely read student blog, Wesleying. “I got out of my car and everyone was screaming, and my phone went off and someone told me, and I screamed. It was like this relay effect of people on the campus, all screaming.”

Summation: New York Times on Barack Obama–bigger than the pope, hot as a young Indiana Jones and able to make the kids–even working-class kids from the Poconos!–scream like the Fab Four combined Voltron-like into one giant hope-spewing machine. It’s settled, I think. He’s got all the right qualifications. Let’s make him president.