Steveas: The bait that got the folks to sign up for O!’s personal text message appears to have been a fake lure, a metal spoon-lure perhaps, with a barbed hook and no real bait on it whatsoever.

Okay, there’s still some kinks to be ironed out, but Obama’s noble experiment to make the White House work like American Idol continues apace. By January 2009, people will be able to text in their preferences for anything from renegotiating NAFTA to defending Taiwan. For the first time, Americans will have a direct impact on what their President will do. And what could be more Democratic than that?