As I’ve pointed out before (here and here), Barack Obama has been plagued by a series of controversies with a common cause — the lack of congruity between his state senate district and the presidential election landscape.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) committed a Kinsley-esque gaffe by suggesting as much during a visit to a synagogue in Boca Raton:

“Think of the history here,” says the six-term New York congressman. “You have a guy who’s half-white, half-black. He goes to an Ivy League school, comes to Chicago … to start a political career. Doesn’t know anybody.

“Gets involved with community organizing — why? Because that’s how your form a base. OK. Joins the largest church in the neighborhood. About 8,000 members. … Why did he join the church? … Because that’s how you get to know people.

“Now maybe it takes a couple years,” Nadler says, suggesting that soon Obama starts to think of Wright, “’Jesus, the guy’s a nut, the guy’s a lunatic.’ But you don’t walk out of a church with 8,000 members in your district.”