I agree that people let themselves get swept away, but in some ways it's just an expression of how powerless many people feel. Not everybody can be an activist focused on the nitty-gritty of political work. But I don't see much evidence that progressive activists are being subsumed by the Obama campaign. To the contrary, I see a lot of criticism of him from the left and lots of organizing around other goals, including around congressional races like the Darcy Burner campaign up here in Washington.