Obama sweeps three more primaries, and now Obama’s campaign manager says - plausibly - that it’s now he who projects the aura of inevitability, that Obama may have a lead of up to 136 delegates - and Hillary can’t catch him.

Well, maybe. The race is obviously far from over; but Obama’s momentum is both tangible and fascinating. Fascinating in that Obama is the obvious change candidate on so many levels - and the electorate, at least the Democratic side, seems downright giddy at the prospect of real, actual change.

I’ve always liked the idea of Obama as a candidate. Liked the idea that nominating - and then perhaps electing - someone of Obama’s background would make a definitive statement to the world that, You know what? The United States of America practices what it preaches; that we really mean it when it comes to things like equality. We’ve always talked a good game but I don’t know that we’ve always backed that up, always walked the walk. Obama represents a chance to do that.

But he represents a change in other ways as well. I’m obviously a huge fan of his stance on Iraq - an issue on which Hillary just doesn’t have much credibility for me - and Obama’s oft-intoned line that “We don’t just need to get out of Iraq, we need to change the mindset that got us into Iraq.” In other words, every problem is not going to be solvable by the application of force, and the thoughtless application of force may ultimately do more harm than good.

The proof, however, is in the pudding; I don’t know that I am a fan of an immediate withdrawal from Iraq because I think the place then simply implodes, and the consequences could be disastrous. But Obama, more than any other candidate, makes clear: No more Iraqs. McCain has explicitly promised us more Iraqs. I’m not confident Hillary doesn’t share the same leanings.

The problem of Obama, as I’ve noted before, is that those of us who like him tend to invest too much faith in him - and that’s a dangerous thing. Inspiring people and actually formulating good policy are not one and the same. Obama gets built up as this savior - I’m not sure he could ever measure up to the emotional investment people seem to be making in him. As president, he could disappoint; and what if he does? What does it do to the idea of the end of identity politics, which Obama represents? What does it do to those who invested themselves in this idea of change if, in fact, nothing really changes?

There’s a fine line, I think, between measured enthusiasm and - maybe this isn’t the right world - idolatry. Maybe we need to be careful that while walking the walk, we don’t assume the ledge is wider than it actually is.