Opinion: Recall elections – change we can do without

Terry Cowgill lives in Lakeville, blogs at ctdevilsadvocate.com and is news editor of The Berkshire Record in Great Barrington, Mass. Follow him on Twitter @terrycowgill.

Change. It’s one of those words when uttered in a political context conjures up images of a cynical office seeker looking to exploit a malaise that might or might not be based in reality.

Though he didn’t use the word — perhaps because the nation was relatively peaceful and prosperous in 1960 — Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kennedy promised a litany of changes in policy ranging from the Reaganesque peace-through strength to the more progressive but quaintly titled “Aid for the Aged.”

Ronald Reagan promised change to a nation that truly was in rough shape, but he also noted in a moment of populist self-effacement that “All great change in America begins at the dinner table.” Sixteen years later in a re-election bid, Bill Clinton vowed to build a bridge to the 21st century — a radical change for a nation that presumably lacked such a link.

See the complete story at CT News Junkie.