How's that for a political campaign slogan? That gem is old-school, coming from the Franklin Pierce for President campaign back in 1852. Bad violent puns must have been quite the rage given that Pierce went on to win the election and become the 14th president of the United States.
Jump ahead 160 years and you'll find that bad campaign slogans are still somewhat commonplace. Since Pierce's day we've been subjected to these...
In Your Heart You Know He's Right (Goldwater)
Not Just Peanuts (Carter)
Real Plans for Real People (W.)
Let America Be America Again (Kerry)
How About Ross for Boss? (Perot)
Country First (McCain)
Forward. (Obama)
These slogans are rather meaningless. They say nothing. This time of year there are political signs on nearly every corner. While the presidential race may garner all the attention let us not forget all those folks running for less glamorous offices such as school board, county clerk, and - my favorite - comptroller. The folks running for these offices are not only complete unknowns but the majority of the population probably has little to no idea what a school board member, county clerk, or comptroller does.
Still, these low level politician wanna-bes have to rely on snappy signs to grab our attention. I noticed this one the other day as I was on a walk.
That's right...Carrie Suber O'Neal not only makes the claim "I make a difference," but also offers her belief in "Educating every child academically."
What does that even mean? Isn't this kind of the expectation already?
But this wasn't even the best sign I saw on my walk. No, the best sign belonged to Kamau Marcharia who is running for a post on the Fairfield County Council. What is the slogan he has crafted to win such a pivotal election?
"Without a vision we perish."
I guess I had somehow failed to realize that our entire existence relied upon the race for Fairfield County Council District Four. I guess we can no longer say we weren't warned.
"Not Just Peanuts"? Really? I don't remember that at all. My first presidential election that I could vote and I don't even remember the pitch. Figures. It goes to show that they are just so much air.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that gets to me is the war/fighting metaphors used. They are always clashing or taking the gloves off in no holds barred exchanges.
A whole different Barack Obama showed up Tuesday night at Hofstra University, and he “beat up” on Mitt Romney. - NY Times today
Although wouldn't it be cool to see them really duke it out?
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