From a Reuters story about Barack Obama’s impromptu visit to an eighth grade classroom:

When Obama made his surprise entrance at the ceremony, the children and their parents leaped to their feet and cheered, “Obama, Obama.”

They even cheered when Obama told them they should spend their summer preparing for ninth grade. He urged them not to settle for mediocrity, saying a changing world requires better educated Americans.

“What books are you going to read instead of watching TV?” he said.

When he ended his brief remarks, the crowd was still ecstatic that he showed up.

“Change, change, change,” they cried.

It’s a cute story and there’s nothing wrong with Obama’s interaction with the class. Except that it’s exactly how Obama interacts with grown-up Americans. He appears before ecstatic crowds. They cheer him on while he tells them what he expects of them: “What are you going to drive this summer instead of an SUV?” He says a few words decrying American ignorance, then disappears while the electrified crowd chants “change” in his wake. Is it not worrisome that the criteria of the Democratic electorate are no higher than those of eighth-graders?