Change is a pain. C’mon, admit it. Unless you’re one of those hardy, adventurous souls who’s currently stuffing your backpack for a long trip to the Arctic – oh, yes, after quitting your job and kissing your family goodbye, that is. The rest of us, sad to say, prefer the comfort of driving the same route home from work most days. Even if we hate to admit it.

Well, here’s news. Obama and McCain are mouthing the right words. “Change is coming!” Etc. Only thing is, the changes they’re promising probably aren’t the biggest curves ahead. Don’t spend your tax break yet.

No, the changes ahead will be more profound. Our basic confidence in the great economic engine isn’t gone, but it’s shaken. People are actually thinking about (next time) buying homes they can afford (and heat), about the merits of state colleges for their own offspring, about getting a smaller car, wearing a sweater (mittens??) at home this winter, and perhaps even buying less stuff in case times get worse.

The amazing thing? This may be all for the good. In our rush to trash our planet, we in the U.S. have consumed oil and gas, cows and fish, plastic, and ice cream (oops, that’s just me) at a truly alarming rate. What we’re seeing now is LIMITS. Limits that will prod us toward changes we’ve resisted, as a nation, as businesses and as individuals.

As in…

-All that money Wall Street was flashing around? Lots of it was fake, a bubble, a myth. The way it was “made” was something no one really understood, and now much of it is gone – actually GONE.

-Peak oil? How many of us have skimmed the articles and turned the page? Yes, Virginia, we will run out.

-Spending as fast as we earn? Oops. Not so smart.

I don’t think the American way of life is doomed, or that we’ll be living in huts in the dark anytime soon. Instead, I think we’ll need to look at how money, honest money, is actually generated and at how our incredible inventiveness can help us come up with technologies and systems for a more sustainable, perhaps more sensible, world.

It could be fun. Really.

Sarah, can we hear you?

You’re right if you think I’m picking on Sarah Palin. I don’t like her, and I really don’t like the idea of her being one breath from the presidency.

You know it’s bad when the press threatens not to cover Palin’s events at the UN conference because access to her has been so severely limited that journalists are angry and disgusted. Essentially, Palin’s handlers are allowing only photo opportunities, no questions.

There are two big problems with this:

One, she’s running to be vice president and providing only scripted comments at planned events means that her words come from someone else and that we rarely see how she thinks on her feet… or what she really thinks when left to her own wits.

Two, the reason this is happening is that the McCain campaign doesn’t WANT us to see how she thinks… or what she knows… or, perhaps most of all, what she doesn’t know.

A new American Research Group poll indicates that zero (yes, that’s 0) percent of Americans think the economy is getting better. I suppose the specter of a $700 billion bailout will continue to cast a long shadow on public confidence. There’s a good argument, though, for adopting a certain dogged optimism. At the risk of sounding like McCain when he recently said the economy’s fundamentals were sound (oops), I’ve been through enough downturns to know that our economy is a massive machine with great momentum. Further, I think our emotions play a big role, and that “group negativity” deepens and extends periods of economic gloom. For example, as a business owner who works with corporate clients, I remember well that 9/11 was almost immediately followed by a freeze in corporate decision-making and an end to many marketing outreach programs. Why? Fear. Certainly, the economy was already in a tech bust, and 9/11 was terrifying. But I strongly believe that we worsened our situation by, in too many cases, putting the brakes on normal activity. I virtually never think George W. Bush is correct, but when he told Americans to “go out shopping” after the attacks, I reluctantly agreed with the motive behind the message. I didn’t want our economy to be yet another victim.

I think we’re at another turning point. The financial mess the U.S. and the world have gotten into is bad, of course. However, my firm’s clients are still selling a lot of products, I’m still buying groceries and shoes, and, as I look around, I see some people are still buying homes and getting new jobs. Let’s keep a sense that we can empower ourselves. Let’s also assume that the sky isn’t actually falling, just sagging. Let’s assume the stock market will lurch back into a positive trend over time. As business people, consumers and human beings, I believe we have the power to keep ourselves moving forward economically – despite it all.

Sure, I’m way too emotionally involved this election season. But I consider the time and the hand-wringing an investment in my professional tool set, because this year’s presidential campaigns are studies in marketing, and very cynical marketing at that.

Which gets me thinking… how on earth can a communicator be believable when she has something “for sale”?

Personally, I look at everything the candidates and their cohorts do through a glass darkly. Picking Sarah Palin as the Republican Vice Presidential nominee? Don’t get me started about how cynical THAT was – and I so hope the women of America don’t vote for her just because she has XX chromosomes. Obama’s growing sympathy for the gun-totin’, God fearin’ working class? (Didn’t he say something about them clinging bitterly to something? Guess hangin’ around a few town halls in Pennsylvania wised him up…) Even the small stuff: Cindy McCain holding Sarah Palin’s new baby on TV? Awww… but I notice she REALLY doesn’t want that kid to barf on her dress. The cynic in me sees only a photo opp, not brilliantly handled.

Trying to learn from the mistakes of political campaigns… okay, so what about marketing products and services? The same problems can arise – it’s tough getting a cynical audience to believe anything professional PR people and other communicators say – even when it’s absolutely true.

Letting the truth be the point. That will help. The truth looks true. It sounds true. Maybe it’s funny, eye-catching or new. The truth doesn’t shift message just to be expedient. It doesn’t underestimate the intelligence of its audience. It doesn’t pull a bait-and-switch.

When you can’t say something good and true about the product or service you’re selling? No kidding – as a marketer, you should just say no. Save yourself for something worth talking about.

Integrity, over the long term, equals believability. I think it shines through – and that’s where my own cynicism ends.