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These are words I have been hearing from both candidates and the MSM alike. Particularly the day after the Caucus… so many declaring that the results of the Caucus was a “mandate for change”… I wish I knew what the “change” really is.

Mind you, I’m fine with change, as long as it makes sense. One clear mandate for change is forced on us by the 22nd amendment… you know, the one that limits any particular person to 2 terms as President. So, Bush can’t run again, so we have new (well, sort of new) candidates on the Republican side. Of course, the Democrat have about the same amount of new-ness in their candidates as well.

Saying that any candidate represents a mandate for change makes about as much sense as saying I want my pizza from Domino’s tonight instead of Pizza Hut. And, I hate to say this, but saying that any results of the American Electorate (as proud as I am our people and system), is still about as meaningful as Punxsutawney Phil determining the length of the winter… because 1) No one really knows if Phil sees his shadow or not (unless he miraculously learned to talk) and 2) everyone knows it’s just for show.

If only everyone knew that what the Candidates say is, for the most part, for show. You know why candidates have messages that “resonate” with the people? Because they’re not stupid… they took a poll and figured it out. It’s like any other group activity… figure out the message that a lot of people are looking for, say it with gusto, hope that no one looks at your record cockeyed and sees a discrepancy, keep saying it with gusto until even the half-hearted are hurling the message at the MSM, lather, rinse, repeat.

Yes, there are candidates that really have have figured out what to do about one or two things. I’ll admit that even Hillary has probably worked out a lot of the ins and outs about Health Care, although I’m sure that there are some mighty warriors from the Health Care Tribe that have (graciously) helped her figure some of that out (mostly to her personal gain). And if you don’t get my meaning here, I’m sure Johnathon Edwards would be happy to enlighten you because HE has Hillary AND Obama figured out… he knows what wrong with them — that’s his message right now (oh yeah, he’s about change, Hillary isn’t… and here’s why Hillary isn’t… hmm I feel like somethings missing here).

Look, even my man Fred can only have so much figured out… but he’ll bring change. Frankly, he’ll probably bring a slightly more conservative administration than the present one. That’s good change to me. A lot of people have been complaining that he hasn’t been as vigorous and hasn’t rolled out a 12 point program for solving all of our woes (another clue… one man’s woe is often another man’s wow) but I’m convinced that he’s thoughtful about what he says and mature enough to present a position of value not ear-candy.

This all boils up to a simple point about change… if we ever, for a minute, think that we don’t want change, no matter how good everything seems to be, we’re in trouble. With a capital “T”. Complacency will kill us. The reason we are such a strong nation is not because we think we can reach a point of success and settle back on our laurels, no way. We are strong and vibrant because we are always striving to do better. This nation would have never gotten off the ground if not for the fact we were striving… striving to survive in many cases, striving to build new lives in a new frontier, striving to build an independent society that could operate without the oversight of a government that was too far away to react to the needs of the frontier life, striving to remove the virtual tyranny of the mother empire, striving to survive the continued challenges of the frontier and those on our borders or occupying the land that we could see was valuable and plenty. Striving to keep other country’s skirmishes from tearing us apart. Striving to bring freedom to slaves, striving to build an economy in tandem with our ideals of freedom, striving to tame a vast territory, striving to bring industry, invention, and technology to the masses, striving to help the world keep from tearing itself apart, striving to stop madmen from murdering millions, striving to protect and expand liberty to the farthest reaches of the globe, to bring a standard of living to our people that would bring health and happiness to the broadest groups of people, striving to bring success to any that would be willing to put their entire lives into new ventures, ideas, frontiers, and rethink how we work. Striving to make it possible for every American literate, educated, and skilled to provide a maximum contribution to th society. Striving to help those around the world that just need help standing up on their own, not to be held and coddled, but to be boosted up so they can walk proud and build their own strong societies.

We are always going to need change. Even the things we consider to be fundamental and timeless, such as our Constitution, may need change. But more importantly, we need to continue to foster a society where everyone can contribute, and work, bring ideas, and help motivate each other to strive for continued growth and success. We must always move forward, never stopping to rest on our prior successes, but rather build upon them.

Anyone can proclaim themselves an agent of change… we need to look past that and see where that candidate can really take us. They will be leaders, visionaries, and ambassadors to the world for us. We must remember the President does not pass laws… that is the role of Congress. This year, we will have 1/3 of the Senate, all of the House, many state legislatures, governors, mayors, city councils, and county supervisors to elect. And one President. I with not to withhold the honor or respect due the office, but it is still only part of what makes our nation great… we can’t take our eyes of the ball at every level… change is everywhere, we need to watch, talk, interact, decide, participate to the fullest in order to ensure our country stays great.

BitHead also happens to have also treated the topic of change today… great minds…

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