Change

A lot of folks seem to be having trouble with the "change" rhetoric in the presidential campaign, which as far as I can tell is just a way for all candidates to distance themselves from the moronic persona and policies of George W. Bush, without actually proposing what to do differently. On the Democratic side, Sam Smith's pungent as usual:

there is nothing about Obama that gives him a copyright on hope and, if you really want change, then logic would point you to John Edwards. But our politics have been subsumed by the values of television and so we continue to look for an American Idol instead of an American President.

Democratic takedown of the day

Chris Mathews interviewing Ralph Nader on MSNBC (transcript here, h/t Sam Smith):

MATTHEWS: I am amazed that you have now excluded Barack Obama from the
progressive coalition.

NADER: He has excluded himself by the statements he has made,
unfortunately. He is a lot smarter than his public statements, which
are extremely conciliatory to concentrated power and big business.

(FWIW Nader likes John Edwards, so far. Lotsa comments at Daily Kos, which I mostly haven't waded through.)