By Ezra
I'm not generally a big Matt Bai fan, so I'm pleased that I'm able to give his New York Times Magazine profile of Mark Warner a hearty recommendation. For my money, it's the best guide to the dynamics of the Democratic primary field yet published. Ostensibly about Warner, it's really about Hillary Clinton, the difficulties of being an insurgent candidate, and the impossibility of being one of many insurgent candidates. If you've got some time today, give it a read. While doing, watch for what's beginning to prove an irksome quirk of Warner's: his tendency to assert his cultural competitiveness rather than show, or explain, it. Warner certainly wouldn't be the first Southern governor to undergo an unexpected mutation when transposed from the state scene to the national stage. With that in mind, I need a bit more from him than repeated assurances that he'll effortlessly transcend the cultural wars.
