Americans Away From Home

Change works for Barack Obama. Americans do want change; even John McCain embraces the concept.

Do you know anyone who wants things to stay just the way they are?

Did you ever eat or drink something, without knowing how it's made, and realize it took special treatment to make it taste that way? Sometimes when people talk about wine, they say the taste is "complex." Makers of snack crackers know that a combination of different flavors offering salt and sweet make people want their products. Formulations for best-selling products can get bewilderingly complex.

The "mix" in the United States is changing. Confounding tradition, the U.S. has been complicated from the beginning. Yet most Americans would probably say they have an understanding of certain things about the U.S. and the people living there.

Not so fast. Americans wanting change may not be aware of the ways the U.S. has already changed, which in turn transforms what it takes to get elected this year.

I've just read an excellent explanation for why this year is so different from past election models. What worked in  1980, 1994, 2000 is NA; 2008 demands a new map.

How this happened gets as complicated as the mix making a good beer or wine. Big changes already there propel bigger change ahead.

Given eternal truths of politics, candidates at times may seek to polarize voters in a divide-and-conquer strategy. A banquet of divided voters already exists this year if you know how to find it. An intriguing study gives a cogent explanation of why we're already polarized, and how that's caused still more changes.

Two insightful stories: Check out why 2008's not the America you knew.

Then see how polarized are we, the people.

Carole