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The power of the 2008 elections lies not in what, or even who, the candidates are, but in what they are not.

Almost four out of five Americans say that the country is "seriously off on the wrong track", according to a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg Poll (http://www.pollingreport.com/ right.htm). The current president's approval rating is lower than low, at 27% (http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs /pdf/Sep08b-Elec.pdf). Americans are tired of the deception, incompetence, and arrogance of the current Administration. They are frightened that their personal incomes are drying up and that there seems to be little hope for improvement in the near future. They are frustrated that America's allies disapprove vehemently of America's actions. They are angry about bipartisan bickering, corporate corruption and declining dependability.

They want a revolution, if you will. Not a "grab a musket and secede from the Union" sort of revolution, but a new way of approaching the ills and challenges of our world. That is why the message of change has resonated so well in Democratic circles and why the Republicans have adopted the same message under the reform banner.

Even the candidates themselves symbolize this shake-up that Americans long for. They're younger, older, black, female, and as such, are different than those we've had before.

It's almost as if people don't care about who is in charge, as long as he or she is different than those who run the show today. That is why Obama's inexperience doesn't matter and why the Republicans have embraced an inexperienced Vice Presidential candidate in Palin. After all, if candidates lack experience, then at least they may do things differently.

The financial crisis of the last two weeks has been instrumental in cementing this intense desire for change among the citizens of our country. Deregulation failed. The Free Market didn't work. The overseers overlooked the obvious and the American people are paying dearly with their retirement plans, their 401Ks, their children's education, and their home mortgages. People long for leadership that will be, if nothing else, different.

Some doubt that change in Washington is possible. Either the politicians are too corrupt or the system is too corrupt for real change. They have taken the cynical view that nothing good can come out of this mess, so they grab whatever they can for themselves and their own. But in the long run, this defeatist attitude leads to a world that most are not willing to embrace.

So they embrace change. They look for a candidate who will be different. They look for someone who will turn the country around in a new direction, almost any new direction.

Harry S. Truman once said, "Men make history, and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better." That is why these elections are making history because they offer the opportunity for change for the better.

Learn more about this author, Ben Sharpton.
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