"Silent" Calvin Coolidge reaffirmed what Alexis de Tocqueville had said a century earlier when Coolidge actually spoke, saying, "The business of America is business." And when looking at the signs of change in our nation's capital, one only need look at the stores to see this is true.

Yes, lobbying firms are jettisoning Republicans and hiring Democrats with a fury. But that's not where the real change lies. The souvenir shops are just as telling--and they knew the results of the election before it even happened.

I happened to be in Union Station today, doing a little Christmas shopping (and doing surprisingly well). Many of the tourist shops have patriotic names like "America! The Store." Or something like that. One store that has "America!" (with exclamation point) has an entire shelf of anti-Prez merchandise (those silly quote books, countdown to the end of the Bush Administration books and calendars, etc.) and, well, nothing dedicated to excoriating the Dems. They've got both Clinton and W presidential dolls...and the W ones are the ones on sale. Hmmm...

Over in the Capitol Building, the U.S. Capitol Historical Society runs a book store. The Washington Post reported today that it has the latest from Barack Obama, John McCain and Jim Jeffords at full retail. Denny Hastert's book? Thirty percent off. Once you become the future ex-Speaker, no one wants to hear what you have to say.

I've been trying to get info on the sales at the White House gift shop, but unsurprisingly, those numbers are, apparently, a matter of homeland security. Nonetheless, my guess is that there are fewer George W. Bush tie tacks under trees across the nation this year.

The store on the corner (or, perhaps, the t-shirt hawker on the corner) has always been the best predictor of the zeitgeist. Sure, these folks hedge their bets--it's well known that there are always two sets of t-shirts, caps, etc., printed up for the potential winners of major sporting events--but almost always, the folks at the bottom of the retail feeding chain are the ones with their fingers on the pulse of America.

Every election there are stories about whose Halloween mask is selling better (I don't recall there being a Nancy Pelosi model this fall; maybe next year) and the like. But really, the key is the tie tacks. The nasty little political knock-offs. The cheap punches. The sort of thing that makes a partisan snort a laugh and then plunk down ten bucks or so. Like the bi-partisan beer bong. Each level signifies a crisis for one party or the other. Never mind that a half-full beer bong misses the point of the implement entirely. The people who buy such things don't really drink beer. They drink politics.

And now, the taps in our nation's capital are flowing Democratic. I'm sure they'll clear the lines in a few years and switch back when the breezes blow another way.

When that happens, of course, the souvenir vendor on the corner will be the first to know.

Jon Worley knew his Mizzou Tigers had a good season when the stores at the Kansas City airport were selling MU sweatshirts for forty bucks. When he was in school, forty bucks bought you student season tickets for football.