I think Matt is right to say that Obama's great advantage is that "he's the kind of person whose support for an idea makes the idea seem more compelling than it otherwise would have. You can imagine him getting people interested in things that didn't previously interest them, or convincing people that steps they used to think were too risky are, in fact, necessary." But this is what's been so disappointing about the Obama campaign: It has refused to press that advantage.

I can imagine him doing those things, but, as of now, I literally have to imagine it. He hasn't done any of them. Whatever your opinion on mandates, Obama went in a timid direction on health care, avoiding mandates, single payer, automatic enrollment, and every other step that could be considered risky. On that issue, he's ended up using his extraordinary eloquence to defend timidity and caution, not sell hard steps. On other issues, he's been better, but not by all that much. Take taxes, where Obama's plan is just a broad-based middle class cut, and Iraq, where he's gestured towards progressive opinions but not actually picked many fights (the negotiations fight, remember, was started by Hillary). This is not to say his plans are bad, or totally bereft of innovative elements (carbon auctions are important, as is government transparency, and he's got a great technology plan), but for all his talk of telling people the hard truths, he's largely protected them from both hard truths and unfamiliar policies.

A popular video on YouTube shows Kellie Pickler, the adorable platinum blonde from “American Idol,” appearing on the Fox game show “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” during celebrity week. Selected from a third-grade geography curriculum, the $25,000 question asked: “Budapest is the capital of what European country?”

Ms. Pickler threw up both hands and looked at the large blackboard perplexed. “I thought Europe was a country,” she said. Playing it safe, she chose to copy the answer offered by one of the genuine fifth graders: Hungary. “Hungry?” she said, eyes widening in disbelief. “That’s a country? I’ve heard of Turkey. But Hungry? I’ve never heard of it.”