Every election is about change -- to do it, or to not. In 2004 there was even a Vote for Change music tour (to benefit MoveOn.org).
But 2008 may be looked back on as the year the "Change" vote became as significant as the "Black" vote and the "Christian" vote. Significant enough that the "change" vote is actually being polled and picked apart and analyzed by the media and politicos.
But does anybody really know what change is?
With the President's approval rating at 33 percent, clearly most Americans think change is the opposite of George Bush.
However, with the Democratic-controlled congress's approval rating at 23 percent, just being a Democrat may not constitute the right change for enough voters. This would blunt the obvious change that, say, Senators Obama and Clinton would bring to the table. Which might be too much change for some.
And I'm not talking about white men.
Obama still trails in the aforementioned "Black" vote, and I can't tell you how often in my travels -- most recently covering the Democratic debate in Las Vegas -- how many women have told me that America is just not ready to elect a female president.
Interesting...
Since, in 2004, female voters made up 54 percent of the population, 55 percent of registered voters and 60 percent of the electorate.
Maybe Michelle Obama meant women and not blacks when she talked about voters who will one day "wake up and get it."
And wouldn't a pro-abortion, pro-gay rights, pro-gun control Republican president like Giuliani be a seismic shift for America (America outside of California)? Not to mention Ron Paul who's, like, a one man political inversion.
The big change among Republicans? Fred Thompson's doing worse now that he's in the race than when he was the great white hope.
With sixteen candidates still in the field it's impossible to say what change really is. All we know for sure is that the next president will at least in name be different.