Right Turn

In the aftermath of Iowa, a striking number of conservative commentators were saying nice things about Barack Obama.

David Brooks: "You'd have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by this . . . This is a huge moment."

The Weekly Standard: "The classiest candidate on the Democratic side."

Townhall's Amanda Carpenter: "Who's not proud of this kid? He has a story people feel good about."

Peggy Noonan said Obama won the caucuses "with a classy campaign, an unruffled manner, and an appeal on the stump that said every day, through the lines: Look at who I am and see me, the change that you desire is right here, move on with me and we will bring it forward together."

Now, on the eve of today's Pennsylvania showdown, not so much.

Perhaps Obama has said and done things that have caused said commentators to reconsider their initial enthusiasm. Perhaps they were enamored of Obama only because he could sideline their longtime bete noire Hillary Clinton. Or perhaps, with Obama close to wrapping up the Democratic nomination, some are falling into line.

After all, many of them were quite critical of John McCain when he was running against the likes of Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson and Mike Huckabee, and now they seem to have put aside their reservations and are making the case for Mac.

I always assumed that, when crunch time came, most of the righty pundits wouldn't be Obamacans.

David Brooks has evolved in his thinking:

"Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos of ABC News are taking a lot of heat for spending so much time asking about Jeremiah Wright and the 'bitter' comments. But the fact is that voters want a president who basically shares their values and life experiences. Fairly or not, they look at symbols like Michael Dukakis in a tank, John Kerry's windsurfing or John Edwards's haircut as clues about shared values.

"When Obama began this ride, he seemed like a transcendent figure who could understand a wide variety of life experiences . . .