“But Barack Obama is, at least, likeable.”

Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2008 | 5:31 a.m.

They could have been more patronizing. They could have been more disingenuous. They could have been more cynical (Just read the opening sentence.).

But I don't see how.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal's endorsement this morning of Barack Obama is an exemplar of intellectual bankruptcy, designed to be an attack on Hillary Clinton by using a phony embrace of Obama. It is likely to have the opposite effect because Democratic activists loathe the RJ -- and they are who will be voting Saturday. And with the RJ's track record on major endorsements, this could be, as CityLife Editor Steve Sebelius put it, the kiss of death for Obama's campaign.