Among Barack Obama's list of celebrity backers, which seems to be growing by the day, one of the more prominent endorsements came this month from George Lucas. Many a headline trumpeted, "George Lucas says 'Force' is with Obama," referencing the mystical power from the director's Star Wars films.

Lucas' actual quote, in response to a question about his childhood heroes, was, "We have a hero in the making back in the United States today because we have a new candidate for president of the United States, Barack Obama'for all of us that have dreams and hope, is a hero."

Impressive. Coming from the guy whose imagination brought screen icons like Indiana Jones and Luke Skywalker to life, "hero" must not be a word he uses lightly.

And the more I hear from Obama- and see how people respond- I'm starting to think that the kitschy headlines had some merit, because Obama seems to be pulling off one massive Jedi mind trick. Like Lucas' Obi-Wan Kenobi character, Obama's power of suggestion can apparently get him out of any situation with a casual wave of the hand and his soothing, baritone voice. These are not the droids you're looking for'these are not the droids we're looking for.

One need not look hard to find evidence of this stunning phenomenon. On local talk radio in Philadelphia, people have been quick to defend Obama's reversal on accepting public campaign funds. One caller "applauded" the senator for "standing up to a broken system."

This, of course, was Obama's excuse last week for going back on his word regarding public funds for the general election. "The public financing of presidential elections as it exists today is broken," he said, "and we face opponents who've become masters at gaming this broken system."

While few would argue that the manner in which we finance elections is perfect, anyone giving Obama's words an ounce of thought might ask, "Broken? Says who? In what way is it broken and how can it be fixed? How, exactly, are your opponents gaming the system?" Rather than even consider such obvious and innocuous questions, however, his weak-kneed supporters parrot every word as gospel; it is true because he says so.

Obama is going to sail into the White House if he gets a pass from his fans and the media- if there is a distinction anymore- every time he says something is "broken," "flawed" or a "distraction." The latter was his response to the Reverend Wright scandal once it became too toxic to ignore. The day after he made his landmark speech in Philadelphia, the left wing blogs and op-ed pages dutifully erupted over the "distraction" that the Wright controversy had become. (It would surprise me if Obama's handlers can't help but smile at such reflexive and cooperative reactions, thinking to themselves, "Dance, my little puppets! Dance!")

And perhaps therein lies the beautiful part about running a campaign based on the amoebic theme of "change": you get to make up what that means as you go along. On the same Philly radio show, the liberal co-host told his conservative counterpart that Obama's huge rallies and crossover appeal were "proof" that he is a different kind of politician. This is nonsense. What it proves is that Obama can make a compelling and inspiring speech. What defines one as a politician are the policies that one implements and the manner in which one implements them- what you get done and how you go about it. In this regard, the junior senator has no paper trail or record of which to speak. The only reason we have to believe that he is a different kind of politician is that he has told us so.

And in his first major move since winning the Democratic primary, Obama reversed himself on campaign financing while blaming the other side for doing so. If this is our first taste of his new, post-partisan flavor of politics then I need some sorbet.

What he is selling is nothing more than a brand, a promise that the actual product can and will be anything that people want it to be. Unity, hope, change, peace, energy independence, prosperity, security- he strikes all the right chords and appeals to our most basic desires at a time when so many are, perhaps understandably, dissatisfied with both the current president and the political process as a whole. It is this dynamic that makes Obama a hero to Lucas and so many others.

And there are times when I truly wish that I could see what they do.

Some of us, though, require of our heroes more than mesmerizing speeches and dazzling words.