We'll remember the stretch just before Thanksgiving as the beginning of the turnaround. After watching the dysfunctional, bickering Congress and a Bush Administration that looks out of gas, there are finally legitimate reasons for optimism coming from Washington—and when was the last time you heard that?
1.Barack Obama has a first-rate team.
Of course he wasn't going to appoint rookies and neophytes; he wants pros who know what they're doing. And guess what? They're largely centrists! The left wing is grumbling, but they got no place to go. All the pre-election anxiety about Obama being a closet Socialist was ridiculous; he will govern as a pragmatist.
2.The medicine will work.
The staggering injection of $800 billion into the credit markets on Nov. 26 will be followed by a stimulus package of at least $500 billion that may be ready to sign when Obama is sworn in on Jan. 20. Key members of Congress already are working on a massive stimulus, which could be finished by late January.