I don’t usually read the UK’s Prospect for analysis of American politics. (This item on why neither Clinton nor Obama can win the presidency the other day was particularly woeful and not just because I didn’t like the message. If you call yourself Prospect, surely you shouldn’t encourage analyses that rely on looking backwards.) But I found the declaration that California is the New New Hampshire resonant. It’s exciting that my primary vote on February 5 is likely to be meaningful when a week ago I expected it to be a formality.

Still, I don’t expect to see Obama chatting with breakfast goers at the Rockridge Cafe or Clinton greeting shoppers on College Avenue. The collision of so many primaries on February 5 and certainly the scale of California means we will experience very little of retail politics. Instead I expect to be bombarded by very, very expensive television ads that I used to access only through YouTube.