Did they mess up? they feel they messed-up in 2000 and 04 when they went with a guy that was the least offensive to the middle. Gore was as animated as an oak tree and Kerry was too out of his element. This guy reflects the academic elitism that is very rampant in the party. To them the country (military, education, energy, economy) are all big academic exercises and they can't wait to try things out using our money. So they did mess-up, they just don't know it yet. Like Rush says, they are setting themselves up for a monumental defeat in 2010 and 2012. Hillary? I think Hillary would be up by at least ten points. She would have galvanized the party like Obama dreams he could and she would have attracted the liberal repubicans in a way Obama never can. He's doing it with smoke and mirrors and the smoke is clearing and the mirror is cracking. With Hill, everyone knew what they had, you either hated her or you loved her, nothing in between.
Hillary is a shrewd operator. I believe she would have given the conservative elements something to chew (increased military spending, extended tax breaks)while doing everything to grow the economy, increase revenue so she has the ability to do gummint healthcare. She learns from mistakes and she'd never allow the same mistake to happen twice.
If McCain is able to pull this out, it will be because Obama allowed McCain and the media to define him, instead of defining himself. Nobody really knows who this guy is and the more they know, the more questions they have. He was never vetted like Hillary has been. Just my two cents.