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In light of this year’s presidential campaign, I wanted to make a point about what has been labeled “the least original buzzword in campaign history.” Before the ‘Super Tuesday’ primaries, I had a interesting conversation with a friend, who derided Barack Obama’s use of “Change” as a campaign slogan, noting that, “you can’t own change.” It seemed like after the Iowa caucuses, “change” became the Zeitgeist, repeated time and time again by the media, as well as within each candidate’s speeches, even those running to continue along the country’s current track. Some have duly noted that one cannot expect to get real change through any of the candidates; that none of the campaigns, operating within the status quo of political parties and political financing can truly offer anything significantly different. But parsing Obama’s phrasing of, “Our time for change has come,” I believe the reference to Sam Cooke’s Civil Rights-era classic is what actually does give him ownership of the slogan.