As Josh Marshall notes, the Politico's Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen published an article today that represents the first forthright effort on the part of a mainstream media outlet to acknowledge that the Democratic presidential primary is essentially over. The article explores the various scenarios being shopped by the Clinton campaign, and notes that her only real chance at victory involves the superdelegates essentially revoking the will of the Democratic electorate. As VandeHei and Allen write: "People who think that scenario is even remotely likely are living on another planet."

The article goes on to discuss the media's complicity in advancing the Clinton campaign's favored narrative -- that this is a close race that could break either way -- while ignoring that it's not at all realistic:

The notion of the Democratic contest being a dramatic cliffhanger is a game of make-believe.

The real question is why so many people are playing. The answer has more to do with media psychology than with practical politics.

Journalists, for instance, have become partners with the Clinton campaign in pretending that the contest is closer than it really is. Most coverage breathlessly portrays the race as a down-to-the-wire sprint between two well-matched candidates, one only slightly better situated than the other to win in August at the national convention in Denver.

 Read the whole thing here.