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This is why ""featured article"" isn't an ideal name for the distinction.  Most readers assume that today's featured article is simply an article that we've decided to ""feature"" (i.e. excerpt and link to) on the main page that day.  Without reading Wikipedia:Featured articles, the quality component is far from obvious. 
I'd propose a name change if I didn't believe that the nomenclature is too firmly steeped in tradition for such consensus to be reached.  Sadly, inertia is difficult to overcome around here.  — "