The lead of Joe Klein's Time column this week is a bit obnoxious:

The 2004 Democratic primary campaign has produced one of the more depressing political phenomena in memory: the rise of the citizen pundit. With Howard Dean gone from the race, the last traces of passion -- and, I fear, conviction -- have been leached from the electorate. Instead of voters, we have handicappers. Ask a civilian why she likes Kerry or Edwards, and more often than not, you get dime-store Capital Gang: "Kerry can match up with Bush on national security," or "Edwards can win in the South." This is a form of pragmatism, I suppose. Democrats are desperate to beat George W. Bush. But it is also fresh evidence of television's ability to lobotomize democracy. With serious issues of war and prosperity at stake, horse-race punditry seems particularly vacant right now....

Excusez-frickin'-moi, Joe -- on behalf of my fellow ordinary-scum political mavens, I apologize for not realizeingthat you pros have the exclusive right to second-guess ordinary voters. Even though, unlike you, we proles actually know (and, in fact, are) ordinary voters.