Early on, McCain latched onto the “Maverick” brand as his own. He doggedly trotted out his willingness to go against his own party, and be his own man. This consistency helped, but it was never the home run he was hoping for. Lately, he’s gone with “Country First” – a not-so-subtle jab at Barack “Citizen of the World” Obama.

The latest change is from the Obama camp. They were pretty consistent in the era that was BP (Before Palin). Once Hurricane Sarah hit the national stage, The Obama-ites hit the panic button, big time. For months, they’d used “Change You can Believe In” as a cudgel against Her Inevitableness, Hillary Clinton. And it worked – as Hillary thrashed about from theme to theme – “Experience!” “Change!” “Experience!,” “Change!” – nothing resonated, and as a result, nothing worked. Obama became the Agent of CHANGE. Problem was, while La Hillary’s “experience” message didn’t work, it wasn’t because of HIS inexperience, but HERS. She touted her White House experience as First Lady as somehow grooming her for the Presidency, and people didn’t buy it. Obama did – and does – have one huge chink in his armor, that being his own lack of experience – and substance. Even with a couple of legislative years under his belt in Illinois and two years in D.C., he’s essentially accomplished nothing more than have two ghost-written books published under his name. He’s voted “present” (in other words, unable to make a decision) a shocking 44% of the time. Obama never met an issue (other than the war) on which he’s afraid to express his indecision.

Enter Sarah Palin.

Before Palin vaulted onto the scene, McCain was not exactly setting the world on fire. He was the “least objectionable choice” or the “lesser of two evils” for most conservatives. He was the closest thing to voting “None of the Above.” And, surprise, suprise, with Obama lacking in credibility, The Anointed One’s been unable to seal the deal with the American Public. The polls revealed an election closer than anyone would have predicted – or imagined. Then in one masterstroke, McCain reframed the election from “Obama: For or Against” to “Obama versus McCain.”

After a week of Presidential Candidate Obama attacking Veep Candidate Palin, he’s changed his tune – and his theme. Out goes “Change You Can Believe In.” In comes “Change You Need.”

Sounds a bit desperate, on the order of “Hey, American Public! Yeah, over here! Remember us? The ‘Change’ guys? Pay no attention to that Palin woman…she’s just a flash in the pan. What you really want is CHANGE. What? McCain says he’s for change…and actually has a track record backing that up? Palin too? Wait…that’s the wrong KIND of change! McCain/Palin is bad change. Ours is good change. That’s it! ‘Obama…the Change You NEED.’ Brilliant!”

Palin has injected something into this race that had been lacking on the GOP side – excitement manifesting itself as real enthusiasm for the ticket. Recent polls suggest that not only is McCain maintaining his convention bounce, but the swing toward the GOP is starting to affect the down-ticket races. A leading indicator of her “game-changer” status is the burgeoning number of sites selling Palin merchandise. (I should know, I’ve been commissioned to create as much Palin merch as I can think up.) And I’m not alone. The ‘net has a case of Palinmaina, and it looks as if SHE is the cure for Obamania that McCain alone never was. So what’s an empty suit like Obama to do?

When a candidate suddenly changes his slogan like that, you can bet it is not because he’s tired of the old one. No, this is indicative of a Bold Move, designed to shake things up, and maybe give him back the momentum he’s lost. Unfortunately for Obama, I don’t think it’s gonna work. Eventually, you have to start talking about what your definition of “change” really is. Smoke and mirrors (or fireworks and Styrofoam columns) only get you so far. Because of Obama’s refusal to debate McCain in a town hall format, we’ll only get three debates this time around – two with Obama/McCain, and one between Palin and Biden. That may work well for Obama to maintain his refusal to be nailed down to specifics, but if substance is as important as style (hint: it is), Barack better hope McCain falls flat on debate night, and Palin does the same.

So what does this mean for your marketing? Slogans are like horses – find a winner, and ride it as long as you can. Change mounts when the old horse won’t get you to the finish line ahead of the competition. But be aware that if you change mounts too often, you lose momentum – as well as the audience that’s betting on you. So pick a winner and stay with it. That’s my slogan du jour, and I’m stickin’ to it.