Obama Aide: Change Is Out, Reform Is In

President Obama’s new 2010 strategy, arrived at after weeks of internal debate, is to replace his sweeping “change” agenda with a more modest push for government reform. First up: a tough new campaign finance law, pushing back against the deeply unpopular Citizens United Supreme Court ruling. “Americans really turned against this opinion,” one official tells Politico, “so the biggest reform is to ensure that our politics and our campaigns are not controlled by special interests.”

Obama will also emphasize his open government efforts, ordering federal agencies to boost transparency. One Obama ally says he’s convinced reformers will win big in 2010. “A reformer can be a Republican or a Democrat—it’s not going to matter.” Obama’s other big theme will be American Competitiveness, an umbrella he’ll use to tackle innovation, energy, and education—“all areas where Republican obstruction is preventing progress,” said one White House official. (More Barack Obama stories.)