In recent weeks I’ve found myself changing planes at Washington’s Dulles airport and noticed a change of a different sort. When I walked through in mid-August, the newstands and political Americana shops (what kind of kitsch would you sell in the nation’s capitol?) were full of Obama t-shirts and apparel, with a life-size Obama cutout smiling on the concourse in two-dimensional fashion. (Come to think of it, that’s a pretty realistic representation for Sen. Obama.)

This past week, I noticed the same places were not only fronting the store with racks of news magazines featuring Sarah Palin on the cover — there were plenty of Republican-friendly shirts and hats, and now cutouts of John McCain on display, and standing in front of Obama.

Totally unscientific, but the marketplace has a way of reflecting reality.