![\"\"](\"http:\/\/jerrysjuicebar.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/change.jpg\" "\\"change\\"")
<\/a>The change we embrace — or at least claim to — can be found in the current presidential race. Its as if Carville’s sign was hung on the door of every campaign headquarters — both Republican and Democrat — to read “It’s the Change stupid!”<\/p>\nAccording to a recently released AP-Yahoo survey, people actually believe (or say they believe) that a president can change things:<\/p>\n
Large majorities of voters believe the president has considerable sway on a range of big issues such as inflation, interest rates, the federal deficit, taxes and more. Fully three-quarters believe the president has at least some influence over health care costs, for example. Sixty-nine percent can see the president making gasoline prices go up or down.<\/p>\n
Make gas prices go up and down? That’s executive privelege!<\/p>\n
Maybe that is why the candidates are flocking to the change mantra. According to a review of presidential candidate advertising by the University of Wisconsin Advertising Project:<\/p>\n
Obama and Romney were the candidates of “change,” repeating that mantra in one-third of their ads, while Clinton, slow to embrace the term in her messaging, still managed to use it in more than one-quarter of her TV spots.<\/p>\n
Then there is the change we fear — climate change. And the only way to change climate change is to change the way we do business.<\/p>\n
That is, when it comes to climate change we have to change to change the change.<\/p>\n
In my experience, people don’t like change. And even when they recognize the need for change they have a helluva time trying to get themselves to do it.<\/p>\n
That goes from the personal — changing personal behaviors and habits — to the institutional — changing the way things operate in your house or your business.<\/p>\n
The next time you go to the bookstore check out the “self help” section. Self help is code for “I (think) I need to change but can’t.”<\/p>\n