The Wash Post's Jonathan Weisman reported on a closed-door meeting between Obama and the Democratic caucus last night and what the nominee said was the buzz of the morning news shows:

The 200,000 souls who thronged to his speech in Berlin came not just for him, he told the enthralled audience of congressional representatives. "I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions," he said, according to the source.

Weisman has updated his original post with this:

On Wednesday morning, House leadership aides pushed back against interpretations of this comment as self-aggrandizing, saying that when the presumptive Democratic nominee said, "I have become a symbol of the possibility of America," he was actually trying to deflect attention from himself.

No tape of the event exists and no one is denying the quote.

But one leadership aide said the full quote put it into a different context. According to that aide, Obama said, "It has become increasingly clear in my travel, the campaign -- that the crowds, the enthusiasm, 200,000 people in Berlin, is not about me at all. It's about America. I have just become a symbol."

Let's be fair to Obama. What he said could be taken as simply acknowledging a fact. But even if it was meant that way -- and not a proud declaration -- he still shouldn't be the one saying it. The campaign needs to walk a fine line between maintaining the magic and enthusiasm of the primaries and degenerating into self-parody. Things like the faux presidential seal step into the latter, as can talking about oneself as a "symbol" of anything.