What is the Change You Can Believe In?

Both candidates in the 2008 presidential race claim to be the agent of the change that America so desperately needs.
Both delivered impressive acceptance speeches to their respective party conventions.
Both are strong personalities with compelling personal stories backed by legions of dedicated and loyal followers.
But if each one is an agent of change, that begs the question: What kind of change?
When John McCain speaks of change, as he did in his acceptance speech last night, he talks of bringing change to Washington, D.C. and its political class.
When Barack Obama speaks, he talks of bringing change to the lives of people out in the country.
John McCain says he will change Washington, and that all will be well in the nation because he took on fellow Washington veterans like himself. To McCain, the Washington veterans of both parties are the problem, except for him-the "Maverick."
A true maverick would talk about new ideas and new ways forward on issues that go beyond more oil drilling, a position he hopes to put forward with the help of Sarah Palin and her oil-company employed husband. While his ideas on energy sources have been expressed, very few others have been.
John McCain says he will bring change to Washington.
Barack Obama is the living embodiment of change at the national and international levels for the United States in 2008, a man who does not merely speak of change in Washington, but of change in the lives of America's citizens.
John McCain traffics in the buzzwords of the Republican past, "no government, pro-life, right-wing judges, tax cuts, big oil, and Reaganomics."
America must move beyond the tired, old themes of the past and boldly chart a new course of innovation, security, and economic development and investment for the future.
A tired, old heroic warrior vs. an energized, young historic innovator...
The politics of divide and conquer vs. the politics of united we are one...
Homogeneous all-white-all-the time monotony vs. Heterogeneous multicultural pluralism...
Change you can believe in?
Indeed.