I keep reading that Glenn Beck is just like Barack Obama or wants to be Barack Obama. Beck sure appears to do a lot more substantive work — and homework — than I’ve seen Barack Obama do. And there’s another key difference: Glenn Beck is not just trying to make you feel good.

On Saturday, he talked about some hard stuff — sacrifice and sweat and truth. Barack Obama’s message has been: Put me in office and we’ll pass things that make everything better. The reality betrays that, of course, but that’s been a key message. Glenn Beck isn’t presenting himself as the answer. He’s rallying to people to politics only as a limited answer to the problems before us. This non-candidate’s civics message is a rally to work harder and a caution about snake-oil salesmen in Washington.