Change Candidate

Change Candidate, or The Candidate of Change, is a 2008 US presidential election catchphrase meaning a candidate who purports or espouses 'Change'. The term is used heavily by candidates in both parties, with each candidate claiming to be the one best representing 'Change'. The word 'Change' is code for a diversion from the policies of the incumbent, George W. Bush, or more generally from the status quo in national politics in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Its use by both parties underscores the 'no-incumbent' nature of the 2008 race.

Use by candidates

Democrats
Hillary Clinton
*On Barack Obama - "That's Not Change"
John Edwards
Barack Obama
"Change we can believe in"

Republicans
Mitt Romney
John McCain
*"I know I have been an agent of change"
*on Mitt Romney: "You are the candidate of change." jokingly after Romney used the word heavily, with McCain poking fun at Romney's perceived changing positions on various issues.
Rudy Giulani
*"We have to decide if the change is good or bad"

Media Use
Chris Wallace declared change to be "the watchword of this campaign" during the Fox News Candidate Forum on January 5th, 2008.

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See Also

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