The “catchphrase” of the presidential campaign is “change agent”; all the candidates claim that only they can bring about change in Washington and in the nation.

All of the GOP presidential hopefuls are middle-aged, wealthy, white men; if one of them wins it will be a case of “meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”

The Republicans insist they are change agents, but when it comes to Iraq and other important issues, they are singing the same song as the tone-deaf president.

The democratic field of candidates is more ethnically and ideologically diverse, but can one of them truly usher in a period of change?

It would be historical if Hillary Clinton becomes the first female president of the United States. But nothing will change under a Hillary administration — she is the very embodiment of the old machine politics.

The last thing this country needs is another Bush or Clinton in the White House. For almost three decades the Bush and Clinton political dynasties have had a stranglehold on power, it’s high time for a change.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s platform is revolutionary and he’s a bonafide change agent, but he has a snowball’s chance in hell of winning the nomination.

Senator Barack Obama is the only change agent with a realistic chance of winning the general election.

“Barack Obama declared Thursday he’s the only candidate who can bring true change in Washington, hoping to persuade Iowa voters to give him the first victory in the Democratic presidential race. Making his case against Hillary Rodham Clinton without naming her, Obama said, ‘The real gamble in this election is playing the same Washington game with the same Washington players and expecting a different result.’” — Quotation from the Associated Press

Obama’s eloquence is matched by deeds: Years of standing up for the disenfranchised and oppressed. After getting a law degree from Harvard Obama didn’t join a corporate law firm to make tons of money, instead he moved to Chicago to work as a community organizer.

Obama has been against the Iraq war from the beginning; Hillary voted in favor of giving Bush carte blanche to invade Iraq. Hillary voted in favor of declaring the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization; an anti-war candidate would never give Bush a fig leaf to declare war on Iran. Obama, a fresh face with a new vision, did not vote in the affirmative on this crucial matter.

Don’t be deceived by presidential contestants with the old warmonger mentality who proclaim themselves as agents of change. A vote for Hillary or for any of the Republican candidates will be a vote for perpetual war.

Electing a relatively young African American to the White House would send a strong signal to the rest of the world that “the times they are a-changing.” Vote change; vote for Sen. Barack Obama