For a DPJ You Can Count On

Here is the Democratic Party of Japan's nagging problem:

With Ozawa Ichirō at the helm, the party is going to defeat the Liberal Democratic Party at the polls.

Ozawa is an electoral wizard, no doubt about it.

After coming out on top as the #1 party in Japan, however, the smarter puppies in the DPJ will have to try to guide a shell-shocked nation through the jettisoning of a crippled economic model -- and they will have to do so with Ozawa Ichirō at the helm of the party and the government.

Not a reassuring prospect.