More on ‘Closing the Deal’ – Has the Press Turned On Obama?

That News York Times article noted here yesterday (the one that insisted Barack Obama, not Hillary Clinton, has a better chance of winning over independents and some Republicans to win in a general election versus John McCain) is pretty much in the minority now amid the coverage that has emerged since Tuesday’s Pennsylvania primary.

The Huffington Post says today that

In a blink of an eye, the media has jumped ship from the Obama campaign and become a crucial Clinton ally, pressing just the message — that Obama is a likely loser in the general election — that Hillary and her allies have been promoting for the past six weeks.

The new tenor of media coverage is visible almost everywhere, from Politico, Time and The New Republic to The Washington Post and The New York Times.

The site offers several examples of columnists and reporters “jumping ship.” The point of many in the press is that because Obama isn’t winning over the traditional Democratic voter (white, middle class, blue collar) that has remained Clinton’s bread and butter, he won’t stand a chance in a general election.

The critical chorus is even resonating across the Atlantic. Under the headline “The Democrats must admit it: Obama would lose to McCain,” London Times columnist Anatole Kaletsky wrote: “the conclusion would be fairly obvious, were it not for the political correctness that makes it almost impossible for American politicians or commentators to express such a view: Mr Obama may by unable to carry large industrial states with socially conservative white working-class populations simply because of his race.”

So are these legitimate points raised by the press? Or have they simply swallowed Clinton’s line? Or are they thirsty for yet another twist in the already winding narrative that is the Democratic primary process of 2008?

One thing’s for sure: Everyone — from the Clinton campaign to some in the media — can’t seem to let go of Obama’s comments about middle-class voters clinging to God and guns and are determined to link that to an Obama downfall.

And despite a loss to Clinton in Pennsylvania that we now know was less than the 10 percent the Clinton campaign wanted, Obama’s performance there among those white, middle-class voters gave Clinton — and the press — just enough ammunition to keep that link in the headlines.

Related: Politico says Indiana is Obama’s last chance to prove he can win over white middle-class voters

Also: Rev. Jeremiah Wright talks to Bill Moyers

And: In this election, white males aren’t feeling the love