Recommended Reading

Michael Kinsley discusses "change" as a political goal. Though I voted for (and do not regret having voted for) Clinton and Obama as they sold "change," I always thought that was a silly mantra. If someone asks me if I want "change" not in the coinage sense, I ask, "What change?"

No one disputes that there's change for the better and change for the worse. Moreover, no political candidate ever says, "…and if I elected, I promise to change nothing!" Even folks running for re-election don't promise that. Mitt Romney said, in effect, "Everything's terrible. This country is doomed if we don't change…and I know how to change things." He lost because a lot of people thought things were already on a slow but acceptable path to improvement and that (or maybe "or that") the way he'd fix things would make it all worse for them. So I disagree with some of Kinsley here but not his last few paragraphs.