Americans deal with change everyday; morning, noon and night. In the morning we get up and the weather has changed. Whether we go to work or school the message of change is constant. Media sends messages informing of changes in the market place. We are a nation of change, one common factor everyone deals with.

No wonder the idea of change is attractive to voters. Candidates are constantly changing their ideals to get the vote.

This leads to a nagging two-part question: "What is real and what is fake?"

The primaries are a marathon of change. Iowa Caucus Democratic voters sent the first message nationwide: "[Illinois Sen. Barrack] Obama is the agent of change." His sense of "change" already created explains why veteran black activists such as Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have been so nervous about the Obama campaign.

A black man in the White House would undermine the politics of predominantly white standard procedure. This is a new and uncharted area and many people interpreted Iowa’s message as a sign the whole country is indeed looking for the same thing.

But is the whole country ready for the Obama change?

The voters will decide.

In New Hampshire, the idea of change went from politics to public persona. Instead of Obama riding his wave of success, another change was present and a Democratic shift resulted. The shift happened when a record number of female voters responded to Sen. Hillary Clinton’s new message of change.

She changed from being the candidate of experience to pushing the idea of being ready for change. She accomplished this during a breakfast meeting with New Hampshire businesswomen.

Clinton broke down and showed that barest raw emotion: tears. She turned on the waterfall a bit and described how difficult the race has become. That change was incredible and very believable. All of a sudden a woman who has been referred to as cold as ice was now very human because she showed emotion. That changed the perception of her public persona. We could debate until the cows come home whether her likeability increased with her show of emotion, but in politics, the result is what counts.

We could also debate whether changing her public persona to expose a softer side was fake or real. Change has taken on different meanings. The first meaning is represented in the political debate when a candidate says it’s time for change. The second is on a more personal level, when candidates have to change to get support.

Candidates have proven the element of change is an essential part of their arsenal. Where did all this focus on change come from?

Many polls reflect a decline in satisfaction in the direction of the country by the American people. We are in an unpopular war. Our economy is faltering, healthcare is a mess, global warming is a rising issue and gas prices continue to increase.

These issues are a concern for most everyone in the country, motivating voters to demand a new direction. America’s future depends on choosing the right agent of change to lead us.

As the primaries move on and this concept becomes bigger, we will be able to witness how many times candidates will change to appeal to the voters in each state.

Is the talk about change real or fake? The voters will be the judge of that. But lookout candidates, because the more change is pushed, the more it becomes a gamble that could lose the trust and support of the voter.

Republicans are attempting to ride the rising tide. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor who had emerged as a victor in the Iowa Caucus while defeating better-known and better-funded candidates, promptly interpreted "change" to mean that America had embraced a new politics of social inclusion for struggling American workers.

But change is inevitable and the candidates quickly responded using a new slogan, "Wish for change," to attract votes.

Much has changed in the Republican presidential field since the debates in South Carolina. After Arizona Sen. John McCain’s win in New Hampshire, much of the press coverage focused on his performance. One poll showed McCain getting a boost from his New Hampshire victory and moving narrowly ahead of Huckabee and Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in South Carolina. This is the state where he met his demise in the last presidential election.

In the third debate in less than a week, Romney aggressively went after the victor McCain. But, this time around Romney will not be airing negative ads in Michigan like he did in Iowa. Romney seemed to listen when criticized for using negative ads to discredit his opponents. Many feel it worked as a negative for the voter. Therefore, it appears that McCain, whose vulnerabilities in a GOP primary are well documented, now could go into the next two pivotal primary states largely untouched by his intra-party rivals.

The tide turns again.

Many presidents have propelled themselves into power by cultivating the same political "change" ideals as Obama.

The candidates today could take lessons from one of the influential "change" agents in our history, a politician who changed the course of history without changing his own persona.

During Abraham Lincoln’s presidential campaign he promised to change the perception of slavery and to make all men equal. He did.

But Lincoln very rarely changed shape from his Honest Abe persona for personal gain, unlike Clinton. Lincoln was a man who really didn’t care whether he was liked or not staying focused on the fact that he was hired by the American people to lead the country, not to win a popularity contest.

As the great Dr. Seuss once said, "I am who I am."

Lincoln could have easily adopted this as his campaign slogan in the mid 19th century. He was all about change, but not in his own persona.