Love Of The Unknown
The headline in the LA Times for Obama's victory reads "A vote cast for change." That's his motto, after all: "Stand for Change."
Obviously if you're trying to replace an unpopular President, you'll be for change. In fact, this time around, all the candidates belong to the "change" party. The trouble is that's often the beginning and end of what they talk about.
Change? What does that mean? Violence has been going down in Iraq. Do we want that to change? The economy's been growing for several years. Do we want that to change? France and Germany have elected pro-American leaders. Do we want that to change?
I'm wary of politicians who try to sell me on "experience"--people who make a lot of bad decisions have as much experience as those who make good ones. But change for change's sake is even sillier.
posted by LAGuy @ 1:02 AM
2 Comments:
I think your real trouble is with the effect of advertising. Not many political ads can stand up to scrutiny (Romney states "we need change in Washington" and then attacks other candidates for being insufficiently loyal to Bush positions-??)- they are simply meant to convey a feeling and "change" has tested as popular when things are perceived as not going well. There is polling that upwards of 70% of voters think America (no doubt for a multiplicity of reasons which contradict each other)- "Change" plants the idea that the candidate will change whatever for the better- athough with its overuse as a theme since 92, I believe it will morph into just another bullshit weasel word in the perception of the electorate. (See "strong," "working families," "I'll fight for you")
Hillary's "change and experience" ad in New Hampshire shows that a gaggle of attorneys are now writing her stuff- I couldn't follow it until I forced myself to listen carefully the 3d time through- not a good characteristic for an ad. Didn't her husband's digressions on the meaning of "is" 10 years ago show her how unpopular this legal word parsing is?
Maybe you could expand a bit on the content of the ads out there right now. That's the advantage of having Guys across the country--we can do original reporting every now and then.
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