Magicians and jugglers

Take a look at Samuelson's story (linked above) in today's Washington Post.

For those of us who are crying out for something new in politics, it's hard to grapple with the sense that Senator Obama (roughly the same point David Brooks is making in the New York Times) is a classic liberal.

Samuelson notes that his ideas are so similar to Hillary Clinton's that her campaign has said he is plagiarizing.

Where this will get really interesting is when and if Obama faces the Republican candidate presumptive, John McCain. The old 'tax and spend' charges will fly-although Obama can respond, fairly, that McCain wants to keep tossing billions into the Iraq sinkhole.

We are in such very poor shape economically that no candidate will get a lot of these ideas past Congress. But the fact that no one, except perhaps McCain (occasionally), dares to address the need for austerity makes our Democratic candidates look like they are juggles and clowns rather than magicians.