Many recall President Obama’s 2008 campaign and recall the campaign slogan “yes we can,” but even more remember his campaign’s unofficial buzzwords “hope” and “change.” Both were used to describe Obama and what his campaign represented: “hope” for the future, “change” in Washington. Well, four years on, some of the promises of “change” have come to pass (for good or ill is another debate entirely) while some have not. That has not stopped the Obama campaign from deploying a modified 2008 slogan ahead of his 2012 reelection campaign: “Change is.”
This is not simply a marketing gimmick, although the phrase has been mounted on a plethora of Obama 2012 swag. The slogan is designed as a prefix to the litany of progressive and institutional changes that the Obama administration has helped usher in since 2009; the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” healthcare reform, easing debt burdens on student and homeowner loan holders and formally ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan—among others.
But the slogan is designed to be subjective, allowing the individual to envision just what they want it to mean and then project that desire upon President Obama. This is a conscious effort by the Obama administration – the president’s team knows he benefited in 2008 from illusory promises of change that his supporters believed would happen under Obama that never did.
Environmentalists, for example, were certain that the America would adopt a “cap and trade” regime to reduce carbon emissions and that the U.S. would become a formal signatory to the Kyoto Protocol – something the president never promised and never delivered on, despite efforts to pass a “cap and trade” bill. However, his vagaries on the issue gave him just enough wiggle room to count on environmentalist’s support without dashing their legislative dreams.
So what does “change” mean this time around for the president and his supporters? Well, the president has been less specific on that front, but he has promised to address some of the concerns raised by the Occupy Wall Street movement in a proposal for comprehensive tax code reform that he promises will reduce income inequality.
Time will tell – but there has certainly been “change.” Obama’s team is hoping that voters will select “change is” in November.
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