But somebody might be interested in a purely pyrrhic effort. What Obama has to worry about isn’t a Dean or a Russ Feingold or an Evan Bayh — or, the fantasies of pundits notwithstanding, a Hillary Clinton. He needs to worry about a liberal version of Pat Buchanan in 1992: Somebody with name recognition and no broader political ambitions, who can serve as a conduit for Democratic discontent in Iowa and New Hampshire. Somebody who could embarrass the White House by taking, say, 30 percent of the vote in an early primary, and congratulate themselves on a job well done. Somebody with a high profile, a silver tongue, and a flair for melodrama, who would attract media attention just by throwing their hat into the ring.

Arianna Huffington, a nation turns its lonely eyes to you …