Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama says change must be more than just a campaign slogan.
Obama and his family campaigned in Iowa on the 4th of July, while rival Hillary Clinton campaigned in the state with her husband at her side, appearing at rallies decorated with banners that read: "Ready for Change! Ready to Lead!"
For the first three days of the week, the Clintons were reminding Iowa audiences of the highlights of Bill Clinton’s presidency, proposing a sort of a "rewind" to the policies of ’90s with a Hillary Clinton presidency in 2009.
During a news conference in Pella on Wednesday, Obama repeatedly said voters are "hungry" for a "shift in the political culture" and they want to look forward rather than backward.
"Change just can’t be a slogan. Change has to be something that is demonstrated day to day, on an on-going basis," Obama told reporters. "I think that my career and my campaign has demonstrated real change."
Some surveys indicate nearly half of Americans would not vote for Hillary Clinton for president. Yet Clinton often tops national polls seeking to measure the 2008 presidential race. Obama told reporters those polls are more name recognition than a true guage of what will happen next year.
"What we’re not worried about is the sort of day-to-day horse race aspects in the middle of July when we’ve got six months of campaigning to go," Obama said during that news conference in Pella. "What I am pretty confident about is that we’re going to have both the resources and the grassroots base that’s going to allow us to compete fiercely and aggressively all the way through."
Republican presidential candidate Sam Brownback was campaigning in Pella at the same time as Obama. And the Clintons chatted with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann, before both couples made their way down the route of the 4th of July parade in Clear Lake.
On Thursday, musician Paul Simon arrives in Iowa to campaign on behalf of Democratic presidential candidate Chris Dodd.
AUDIO: Obama news conference in Pella (mp3 runs 16 min 30 sec)