It Starts.

I was wondering how long it might take for Barack Obama's principled approach to politics to begin giving way to the pragmatics required to win again John McCain, much less exercise effective leadership in Washington. Looks like it's happening already: CNN has reported that women wearing headscarves were prevented from sitting near Obama at a rally, in order to combat the perception that he is Muslim.

Although "Presidential campaigns routinely invite audience members they believe will enhance the image their candidate wants to convey on TV to stand behind the candidate at rallies," the practice does run counter to Obama's message of unity and diversity.

The campaign has admitted as much and apologized for the incident, saying such actions are "not the policy of the campaign... It is offensive and counter to Obama's commitment to bring Americans together and simply not the kind of campaign we run. We sincerely apologize for this behavior."