"My question, then, is what you all think about whether people can really be convinced either that things aren't as great as they seem, or that what they think they like really won't change. Or is it even necessary to convince people of either?"

Hmmm - Andrea, convincing people is always so difficult. If it were to happen, I feel like this is an instance where we need to somehow get the little penguins to join together to tell their parents that they should buy into this. Maybe Obama should start a nationwide college tour to build momentum/support and show people that there are supporters out there. It's great trying to bring everyone together, but I think that when you hold multiple town halls/joint sessions of congress (okay, so maybe that couldn't be helped :P ) where there are loud, angry dissenters, supporters might begin to feel as if they're on the fringe.