2016

As this blog draws to a close, I would like to take some time to talk about one last election: the upcoming one. Up till now, all the campaigns have been in the past and we know who came out on top in the end. Now we have an actual race in progress to look at; one where the slogans are vying for our attention.

As the final candidates have not been nominated yet, this post will be looking at the forerunners of the Democratic and Republican Parties.

For the Republicans, we have Ted Cruz, John Kasich, and Donald Trump.

For the Democrats, we have Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

To be fair and to avoid anything that can be misconstrued as bias, I will be looking at each candidate in alphabetical order, regardless of party.

From nytimes.com

Hillary Clinton – Her official slogan is “Hillary for America” but it doesn't really have a ring to it, so the line I’ll be looking at is the one on the posters: “Fighting for us.” This line reaches out to all the people of America covered using only two letters. “Us” is a powerful word when talking to people. It is entirely inclusive and excludes no one. Furthermore, it does not alienate the candidate from the people. It effectively says that everyone is in this together. The choice of “Fighting” is a strong rhetorical choice as well. The verb acknowledges that there are challenges ahead and the candidate is prepared to take them on.

Ted Cruz – His official slogan is “Courageous Conservatives.” While this may not seem like much, it is extremely relevant in this election. The other major candidate for the Republicans is Donald Trump who has not-so-conservative ideas. Cruz is reaching out to the Republican voters who dislike Trump. His slogan states his type of beliefs and offers an alternative to Trump. Cruz also has a unique poster campaign. The word “Trusted” is displayed in all caps with the “Ted” part in red. When the word is said split like that, it sounds like “Trust Ted.”

John Kasich – His official slogan is “Kasich for us.” This one is pretty basic. It is worth pointing out that when written in all caps, “us” will look like “US.” The possibilities both suggest that the candidate will make a good leader for the people and for the country. To be honest, Kasich’s campaign isn’t at all flashy or catchy – it’s much more subdued, potentially because he isn’t going for a delegate win. Instead, he is trying to prevent Cruz and Trump from meeting the delegate requirement and then snatch the nomination at the Republican National Convention. According to The Atlantic, Kasich can compete with the Democratic candidates if he were to be nominated by the Republican Party.

Bernie Sanders – Sanders’ campaign has many catchphrases and flashy lines, but for me two stick out: “A Future to Believe In” and “Feel the Bern.” With the first one, Sanders is not implying he has plans for the future, instead he is telling the voters that they can believe in it. The second slogan is fun. Like many of the catchiest slogans, it is a play on words. “Feel the burn” is a slang term that often refers to the feeling after exercising. The connection between this and politics is minimal, but the fact that it exists shows that Sanders is not afraid of reaching out to the younger voters. In fact, that seems to be one of his major campaign goals.

Donald Trump – Here’s a joke I read on the internet recently: Why does Trump want to ban pre-shredded cheese? He wants to make America grate again. (It’s a joke. Laugh.) All kidding aside, Trumps slogan has become fairly well known. “Make America Great Again” is a shout out to the past and a promise for the future. “Again” acknowledges the past accomplishments of America. Slogans like these often show up when a candidate is looking to win over the presidency from the rival party. Trump’s slogan blames Obama (a Democrat) for America’s current state and that is why Trump (a Republican) should be elected president.

Out of all of these campaign slogans, I'm personally a fan of Sanders' chant. It has a unique fun feel to it that is seldom seen anymore. As far as which one is most effective, that will be up for the voters to decide in November.

Thanks for reading!

Hope

When President Obama ran for his first election, his campaign was spearheaded with a concise message. His posters, his speeches, and his supporters proclaimed two things: “Hope” and “Change.”

Image from linkedin

Officially the two slogans were “Hope” and “Change we can believe in.” The popular chant for the campaign was “Yes we can.”

This whole campaign exuded an air of hope and possibility. With positive campaign slogans that seemed to cover all the possible issues (albeit by being very vague), Obama’s campaign reached out to the voters of America.

For any problem there was “hope” for a better future, and by electing Obama “change” will happen.

The effectiveness behind this campaign was it empowered the people. Given the setting of the 2008 election when the economy was struggling, the war on terror was dragging on, and everything seemed dark and depressing. Then from the Democratic Party came a congressman proclaiming that there was hope. Furthermore, Obama was different from all the previous presidents. As the first African American on the ticket, Obama not only promised change, but appeared as a change from the norm himself.

The other part that made Obama’s campaign quite successful was his use of the internet and technology to connect with the voters. By 2008, the internet had come a long way since the last election of a new president. Heck, it even came a long way from 2004. This change a whole new media to campaign on.

Paper campaigns were very limited and often left the voters disconnected from the candidate. Travelling campaigns were better at forming a connection with the public, yet one candidate could only be in one place at one time. Television and radio campaigns eliminated the location restriction but came with the downside of time restriction as broadcasts can only air at certain times. With the internet, the campaign can reach anyone with connection anytime at all. This greatly increased the candidate’s connection with the voters and made it so much easier for messages to be spread.

Obama did an excellent job of utilizing the internet in his campaign. His campaign slogans and chants were short and concise, allowing for easy understanding by the attention deficit internet users we are. Furthermore, they fitted easily into Twitter messages and Facebook posts without becoming a wall of text.

Image courtesy of the wonderful Wikimedia Commons

Although most of the strength of Obama’s campaign came from his internet presence, the above picture shows one of his famous posters. This simple palette and short message quickly became iconic.

However, his second campaign did not fare as well. He struggled to find a new unique message to convey. Regardless, the campaign's official slogan of "Forward" is still effective. It continues the message of the previous campaign and once again looks towards the future.

Turn of the Millenium

Changing times often lead to a good amount of discussion about the future. This is no different in the realms of politics. Sure, some folks like to complain about the present or the past, but the majority of people prefer to look towards the future. People like it when the future is bright and shiny and some candidates keep this in mind when running their campaigns.

At the turn of the millennium, campaign slogans suffered a bit from maybe a lack of stuff to talk about or perhaps the candidates were just not very creative. So instead, we ended up with quite a few slogans talking about the time.

Bill Clinton, for his second campaign, ran with the line “Building a bridge to the twenty-first century.” In his campaign, he included the accomplishments of first campaign and worked on identifying ways he could continue the nation’s growth. Once Clinton had won the election, he set forward to increase government funding of science and medicine in an effort to keep America at the forefront of progress.

The year 2000 was a fiercely competitive election year. Al Gore and George W Bush had such a close vote that the election came down to a recount of the votes in Florida. Eventually the Supreme Court had to stop the recount with the final result of Bush winning the presidency.

In this election, an urban legend formed around Gore stating that he claimed to have invented the internet. Gore himself came to embrace the idea and referenced it on CBS’s Late Show in a humor list of the “Top TenRejected Gore-Lieberman Campaign Slogans.” While the statement is not true, Gore’s initiatives from his terms as vice president helped develop the commercial internet we know today. The Webby Awards honored Al Gore’s contributions in 2005 by presenting the former vice-president with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

By the next election in 2004, things had taken a much darker turn. The nation was still in shock from the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. In troubling times like these, a strong leadership is what the nation needs. President Bush had handled the aftermath of the incident excellently, earning high approval ratings from the public. Bush ran for reelection with the platform of “A Safer World and a More Hopeful America.

It was in this time that America needed hope. Bush was trying to bring this with his campaign. In certain ways, he was successful in persuading the public that he would be able to provide.

His rival John Kerry used a similar line “Let America Be America Again.” This slogan is somewhat similar to Harding’s “Return to Normalcy” in 1920. In my opinion, these slogans tend to have less of an effect. They reach out to the past, to something that once was and can never truly be again. It is always a best to keep looking forward, towards progress and tomorrow.

It's the Economy, Stupid

Unfortunately, the 1990’s going into the new millennium weren’t quite exciting in regards to campaign slogans. However, there are a couple memorable candidates as well as elections.

The first election of the 1990’s featured the first Clinton candidate, George H.W. Bush, and Ross Perot. As we all know, Bill Clinton won the election and became the last president of the 20^th century. Most of Clinton’s taglines were simplistic, for example “Putting People First” and “For People, for a Change.”

But there was one that really resonated with the crowd: “It’s the economy, stupid.” This line was created by campaign strategist James Carville as the second of three focuses for campaign workers. To focus the campaign staff, Carville posted a sign at campaign headquarters that read:

               “Change vs. more of the same.”

               “The economy, stupid.”

               “Don’t forget healthcare.”

These lines summarized the goals of the Clinton campaign, and clearly some of them were not meant to be used as slogans. “The economy, stupid” was the exception as it pointed out one of the biggest national issues of the time. Furthermore, it was blunt about it. The message is clear and you would have to be stupid to miss it.

Image from inequality.org

The slogan rests right between insulting the previous president and declaring the candidate’s plans. At the time, incumbent president George H. W. Bush was running for reelection after a term of economic difficulties. Clinton supporters used the line to dissuade others from voting for Bush because his actions in office proved inadequate to solve the economic problems of the time. They treated the economic situation as something that was simple to solve and they suggested that Clinton would be able to do just that.

The line itself was elegant in a way summarizing an entire campaign in 3~4 words depending on which source you look at (sometimes “It’s the economy stupid). During Clinton’s term, America saw a major period of economic growth earning Clinton an extremely high approval rating.  

It’s Morning in America Again

The best campaign slogans often come from the reelection campaigns of popular presidents. Perhaps the best example of this is Ronald Reagan’s 1984 reelection slogan: “It’s Morning in America Again.”

Reagan’s first term was prosperous. He established new legislation to fix the economy. In the low tax system that became known as “Reagonomics,” America saw economic growth, decrease in unemployment, and a reduced rate on inflation. This new found era of prosperity made Reagan an extremely likeable character.

“Morning in America” reflects the positive environment of the nation as morning is often the symbol of a new beginning. The slogan suggests that Reagan pulled America out of the night and into the sunlight. The full advertisement video concluded with a question: “Why would we ever want to return to where we were less than four short years ago?” When a campaign focuses on the positive accomplishments of the candidate, it is much easier to support the candidate. It provides an idea of what can be looked forward to with the next term.

During the current bid for party nomination, two of the leading Republican candidates (Rubio and Cruz) are referencing “Morning in America” in their campaigns. Marco Rubio currently has a video ad “Morning Again” that mimics Reagan’s video, however, it talks about a different time for the nation. Reagan’s video followed prosperity. This election follows an economic decline and the message of the ad is less about the virtues of the candidate and more about the flaws of the predecessor.

A key point to consider is the message when it comes to analyzing campaign slogans. The most effective are those that speak of the tangible achievements of the candidate. On the other hand, the most used are those that speak poorly of the opposing party. It is quite easy to mud-sling at an opponent; anything can be made fun of from their history to their appearance. But this can be done by anyone, rendering it ineffective at garnering votes. The most challenging part about winning an election is creating a name for yourself and a good one too.

In the history of campaigns, candidates, especially incumbents, win by the largest margins when they have something to show. The shear popularity of certain candidates can even bring about an attitude of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Once a candidate’s name is in the minds of the public, they automatically have an advantage over the opposing party. A prime example of this is the popularity of Donald Trump. His “unique” viewpoints have captured the attention of the media and of the people.

And in a way, that accomplishes the ultimate goal of campaigns: to bring awareness to what each candidate has done and promises to do.  

Not Just Peanuts

The elections that follow turbulent periods in the presidency are always interesting. The election of 1976 followed the chaos of the Watergate scandal and the general public had trust issues with the government. The election was between incumbent president Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, governor of Georgia.

Carter had an interesting approach to the election. Before the election process started, including primaries, Carter was virtually unknown outside of Georgia. He didn’t let this stop him though. He aggressively campaigned before the primaries, even before other candidates declared that they were going to run. By the time primaries came around, Carter was easily selected as the Democratic candidate.

Carter’s lack of a name in national politics made him an excellent candidate for presidency because it gave him distance from the Watergate scandal and the conflict in Vietnam. Although Ford was clean of Watergate as well, his name was still connected to Vietnam. Carter provided a clean slate for the government to recover on and heralding the candidate were two slogans: “A Leader, For a Change” and “Not Just Peanuts.”

Image courtesy of amazon.com

“A Leader, For a Change” was a pretty straight forward slogan. The line pretty much told the public that Carter would fix the mess the government had created. There are two basic ways to interpret the slogan. First, Carter is a leader opposed to those who came before him. Second, Carter “when he is president” will bring about changes. This was a unique aspect to Carter’s campaign promises. They began with “when I am president” instead of “if I am elected president.” This combined with the slogan shows that Carter was serious about his bid for presidency.

“Not Just Peanuts” is one of the more memorable presidential slogans. This line is unique to Carter because it links to his farmer origins. Before becoming involved in politics, Carter had grown peanuts, building his farm from nothing. The slogan gives a shout out to his roots (literally… peanuts grow in the ground… not sorry) and depicts him as a common farmer who has worked his way to the national politic scene. But, the slogan also states that he isn’t just peanuts; he has more than farming knowledge. Carter had served in the navy aboard nuclear submarines and in politics as senator and governor for Georgia.

Attempts to market a candidate as being a common man have been used across campaigns beginning in the 1800’s. Famous examples include Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln who used their location of birth (log cabins) as a major selling point. The key behind these successes is that it make the candidate more relatable. The America public continues to look for people who they can trust and this trust is often found amongst peers.

Additionally, a curious possibility that I thought of while looking at this slogan is that it is trying to validate Carter’s pursuit of presidency. If you look closely, the slogan is one syllable off of “not just nuts.” Realistically, Carter’s campaign was a little crazy in the sense that he catapulted himself from being almost unknown in national politics to the presidency. 

Nixon Now

It is a shame that Nixon went down in history as the only president to ever resign office. During his first term as president, he gained widespread popularity and won his reelection by landslide. However by the second year of his second term, the Watergate Scandal had consumed most of his career and had the public in clamoring for his impeachment.

But let’s go back to the better days when Nixon had the support of the people.

Image courtesy of stylepinner.com

When Nixon ran for president in 1968, it wasn’t his first attempt. He had tried back in 1960 but lost to John F. Kennedy. For the 1968 election, Nixon used a variety of campaign slogans. With “Nixon Now” and “Nixon’s the One,” the Republican Party encouraged the public to help Nixon win the campaign this time.

Following his successful first term in office, Nixon ran for reelection with a slightly modified campaign slogan: “President Nixon – now more than ever.” This extension of the first campaign slogan subtly suggests why Nixon should be reelected. First off, Nixon is referred to as President. This establishes Nixon as a trustworthy and successful candidate. Those who did not vote for Nixon in 1968 can now look at his first term and reevaluate their opinion of him. Second, “more than ever” is tacked onto the end. This suggests that it is even more vital that Nixon wins the campaign.

These slogans were backed by previous results. With his first term, Nixon tackled the issues of the nation, both domestic and foreign. He over saw the large scale integration of schools and the lunar landing. He worked on addressing the inflation problem and environmental concerns. Internationally, Nixon worked on removing American troops from Vietnam and easing tensions with the Soviet Union. Additionally, policies for dealing with Latin America, specifically Cuba, and the Middle East were established.

But Nixon’s campaign slogans weren’t always so simple. Like many candidates that are popular with the crowds, Nixon was sometimes referred by his nickname, Dick. For the 1960 election, one slogan/campaign song proclaimed “Click with Dick.” This three word tag used rhymes to connect the voting method of pressing buttons with the candidate.

There is one, that for the blog’s sake, I won’t mention here. You can find it online when you Google image search “Nixon campaign slogans.” I wasn’t sure if it was real or not when I first saw it, but, according to an article by ABC News, it isn’t entirely fictional (mentioned under 1. Democratic Slogans). It was used exclusively by “diehard” supporters. Regardless of the content of the slogan, it still rhymes and refers to Nixon in an … affectionate way. But this slogan also works because it claims that Nixon can’t be beaten.