The media coverage of Barack Obama, as the Senator himself often notes, is insane. That insanity reached a new high yesterday as Obama made his way through New Hampshire yesterday with more than 150 members of the media in tow.

Susan Milligan of the Boston Globe described Obama as delivering "an uncomplicated message" of hope and promise, which I assume she meant as a compliment. Ditto Seth Gitell in the New York Sun, who writes that Obama's candidacy is "is shaping up as the perfected form of the campaign Senator Bradley of New Jersey attempted to run in 2000 and Governor Dean attempted with more success in 2004."

Here's more flavor of the coverage from Adam Nagourney of the New York Times:

Whatever the reason, Democrats long acquainted with New Hampshire politics were stunned to walk into a ballroom at the Center of New Hampshire here and see signs proclaiming the event sold out. "I've never seen anything like this before this early," said Mike Ballantine, a computer programmer from Nashua, as across the room Mr. Obama was surrounded by more than 100 people, many holding up his book and hoping for an autograph. "I mean it's amazing. Really amazing."

And the reality of Mr. Obama -- as opposed to what people had read or seen in weeks of extraordinarily favorable coverage -- struck a chord with some. "I was very impressed with the fact that he wants to bring people together," said Betsy Shultis, a former state representative. "I was very taken with him."

Elizabeth Fairchild, 37, of Rye, N.H., said: "I thought he was fantastic. He exceeded my expectations."

Another swooning Democrat told Dan Balz of the Washington Post , "I do hope he runs. I haven't been so excited by someone since JFK, when he was campaigning when I was 10 years old."

And if likening Obama to Dem icon JFK isn't high enough praise, a 64 year-old artist in Portsmouth went a step further, saying of Obama to reporter Paul West of the Baltimore Sun, "I see him as very messianic."

Let me know when he starts walking on water.

The reality, of course, is that Obama has a long way to go. Glenn Thrush of Newsday reports that Hillary's folks have alreaady started the whispering campaign against Obama:

Clinton aides claim she hasn't been flustered by Obama's flirtation with a run, but some supporters have privately taken to slipping some salt into the sugar when it comes to the freshman Illinois senator.

"Do you know what his middle name is?" one booster asked recently. (Answer: "Hussein!")

And here's some good news for '08 wannabe John Edwards: Obama's wife, Michelle, earns $45K a year sitting on the corporate board of Treehouse (formerly Dean) Foods, whose biggest customer is - you guessed it - Wal-Mart. Not to mention that Treehouse appears to have a bit of an executive compensation issue.

According to the article by Greg Hinz of Crain's Chicago, the CEO of Treehouse earned $26.2 million in salary and stock options last year, making him the second highest paid exec in the state, ahead of the CEO's of corporate giants Motorola and Abbot Labs. And three other execs at Treehouse made over $10 million last year, all working for a company with only $700 million in revenues.

All of this stuff, and much more, will come into play should Obama throw his hat in the ring. When it comes to running for president, you can only float above the shark tank for so long before you have to get down in the water, get bloody, and start mixing it up. As much as there is something to be said for being a new, fresh face, there's something to be said for being battle tested as well.