In fact, many of the government's policies have proved so effective that although John Key, an affable ex-banker, manfully strove to invoke Barack Obama by calling for "change," he offered only modest deviations from his opponents' agenda.
The result was a victory for the Socialist prime minister, Jose Socrates, who took on not just the conservative opposition but some in his own party by calling for change to the current law, under which women face up to three years in jail for aborting.
Nadal has rarely focused on the prize money issue publicly, focusing more on reducing the physical toll of the sport by calling for change in the calendar, ranking system and Davis Cup, the team event which he won with Spain in December but does not plan to play in this year.
And some Clinton administration officials said they believed that the interagency panel, formed last summer, had gone too far by calling for major changes in the counterintelligence structure without adequately consulting with other officials throughout the government.
The deficit commission that Mr. Obama intends to establish could be helpful in breaking this logjam, by calling for necessary changes that politicians would be loath to broach without political cover.
The opposition began weeks ago by calling for modest changes to the country's electoral law and a reshuffling of the cabinet, but their demands have increased recently, and there are now growing calls for more fundamental constitutional reform that would limit the powers of King Abdullah II.
At the same time, Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's president for the past 24 years, has astonished his countrymen by calling for constitutional changes to allow rival candidates to vie for his position for the first time.Related items The Middle East: Democracy stirs in the Middle EastMar 3rd 2005 Lebanon: Time for Syria to goFeb 24th 2005To the instigators of the Iraq war, all this is manna from heaven.
The very breadth of Mr. Paterson's proposal suggests how depleted his political capital is: With difficulty raising money for his own election campaign and many lawmakers balking at his budget proposals, the governor has little to lose by calling for big changes.
But he went further by calling for a change in the law to allow councils to impose punitive 1,000% rates on the owners of vacant homes.
They are torn between placating their readers by calling for political change, and currying favour with masters who are twitchy about unrest.
