Besides the fact that I no longer think elected officials are so much elected as put in place, I was trying to think of slogans which would make people feel warm, fuzzy, and OK. Not sure if feeling fuzzy is actually a plus. They always say, "warm and fuzzy", and THEY must be right. Still, I am wondering if fuzzy would itch or get in your eyes or be a nuisance if it got just the least bit wet.
What is it that people want to feel? This puzzles me some. Mostly they want to feel no pain, don't want to feel alone, and don't want to feel like anyone can see how irresponsible and weak they really are. And they want to feel somehow included. Like they wanted to think they were part of the crowd crossing that
Bridge to the 21st Century or flowing into the lovely future on the Obama logo.
These are old buttons, but more interesting than most of the '08 litter.
Obviously, the Obama logo was superior to the other graphics in the campaign. Others from both parties all had predictable stuff, except for McCains militaristic one which looked like a Russian army generals emblem or something--balck and gold with a star. Grim. Other graphics were mostly renditions of the flag or things like Romney's post office eagle. Bland, uninspired and similar. This logo was the difference.
My candidate has to do better than this. Quite a challenge, but that's how you win--good logo--effective slogan. Remember, substance and reality have no place in the campaign.
There's a lot of talk about "giving back" and "making a difference", often attached to things that may or may not be more trouble than they are worth. The intrinsic value is secondary. The real goal is to feel important and hopefully get recognition. Then you say things like, "Oh, I get sooo much more out of this altruistic endeavor than the little people I am helping", or words to that effect. Nonetheless, the speaker of such words rarely resists the limelight and the chance to be publicly humble and modest. That is apparently much of the appeal of "giving back".
This is coming from one who has done more benefits than I can count, in one form or another. I do things I enjoy and feel fake if I describe them or even pretend I am giving anything back. For one thing, I haven't stolen or taken anything to give back. In the case of being the recipient of the goodwill of friends, I suppose I could find ways to repay. It is not necessarily financial. Kindness, hospitality, etc. Friends have gone out of their way for me on their own volition. So, in that way, there could be some giving back. As far as events and activities in the community, I do what I do because I feel like it. Often it involves playing music so it is tough to act like I'm doing anyone a giant favor.
So, it may pay to somehow make people feel like they can claim to be giving back when they do nothing other than what they like to do. That is already in place I suppose, but worth looking for some quality in that realm which can be exploited in a new way.
OK. I am still wondering what slogan would put our hypothetical candidate in the running. As far as 2012 president, I get the idea the slogan "
Hope and Change" will give way to "
Win the Future". Have to hand it to them. Another meaningless, yet inspirational piece of drivel which threatens no one, and doesn't make the average Joe nervous. Hell yea, let's win. Same emotion as when you sit home and watch your team win the super bowl. You did nothing, but You WON!!
I'm wiondering if it would be too nervy for my candidate to gamble on this wave of modern messianic hysteria. If not, then I think, "
Let Go And Let Me", accompanied by the right logo might work. Maybe the logo could give the idea of happy people secure in their own happy house. It would need to be simple, but somehow give the right impression--like your home is safe and you won't have to worry about foreclosure.
Remember, the reality is unimportant. It is the emotion that counts. Make people feel like backing your team is effortless and leaves their stomachs full and the TV capable of pulling in a zillion cable channels. And it is not your fault if your kids are thugs, if you are incompetent, and if your bills for luxury items go unpaid.
An Orgasmic Tomorrow is another possibility, but that could raise some resistance. It is so tricky. A good slogan can't imply any action on the part of the voter, and it can't imply the individual's ultimate success or failure. Success scares people, so if they think they might achieve it, they inwardly get scared that it will be obvious they don't deserve it. Just like freedom scares people. What they want is security, and justification for their shortcomings. Part of it is natural, and part of it is because that is how we've been conditioned for so long that we know little else. Path of least resistance.
Slogans need to be short. Three words work best, yet that is what makes for the challenge. Perhaps
One With You is a viable phrase. It is an offshoot of the solidarinosc craze. Or,
We Are One(maybe
We Are Won)--and then my candidate would be instructed to agree with the opponent, then directly contradict whatever is said, prefacing it with "Of course we want the same things for the American people, so I agree that xyz". XYZ is of course nothing even close to what the opponent said. "We all have but one vision..." That is a good one to add in there during the so called debates. Or is that now called "conversations"?
Then my candidate goes on to explain that since he/she is the most acutely aware of our oneness, he/she is best suited to lead us all into our orgasmic tomorrow. Even the worthy but somewhat confused opponent.
Got to keep working on the slogan. I can almost see the logo, but don't have a handle on it yet. When I do, I'll have everything I need, except a candidate to run with it. The more I think about it, the more I realize that is the least important aspect of the whole process. I'll find someone who is not damaged beyond hope, and who can appear cool without coming off like a person pretending to be hip, like those goofs who attempt to makes kids think they are cool by dropping a bit of mostly passe slang at inappropriate and forced times. We'll find someone.
Any good slogan ideas welcome. Non-threatening, meaningless, but catchy and evocative of positive imagery and nothing whatsoever required of the voter. Other than voting and shunning all who aren't with the program. It worked in '08. It could work in 2012. But we have to win over much of the cult faction who still think Obama is going to turn their unpaid bills into new houses and full gas tanks.
***holy smoke! An obvious impostor has written this guide, POLITICAL CAMPAIGN PLANNING MANUAL A STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO WINNING ELECTIONS By J. Brian O'Day National Democratic Institute for International Affairs...
Lying punk. Let him pick an unknown and I will pick one, and see who wins. Two random college graduates with equal everything. No felons or famous people.
++++++an alleged list of presidential campaign slogans throughout American history---although they don't so much go with the Hope and Change tag for Obama, but the Yes We Can, among others. Hope and Change was the message people got. The Yes We Can was also highly effective.
Apparently GW Bush had Yes America Can! as a slogan. Who knew? Very close to Yes We Can. My theory is that with the sentiment among so many in this country that the Word America was unsophisticated and therefore was not inclusive of them, changing it to "We" proved more effective. I know people who cringe at the sight of the flag because they see it as something only for meanies who will shoot you if you break into their homes.
Campaign Candidate Slogan
1840 William Henry Harrison Tippecanoe and Tyler Too
1844 James K. Polk 54-40 or fight
1844 James K. Polk Reannexation of Texas and reoccupation of Oregon
1844 Henry Clay Who is James K. Polk?
1848 Zachary Taylor For President of the People
1856 John C. Fremont Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Speech, Free Men, and Fremont
1860 Abraham Lincoln Vote Yourself a Farm
1864 Abraham Lincoln Don't swap horses in the middle of the stream
1884 Grover Cleveland Blaine, Blaine, James G. Blaine, The Continental Liar from the State of Maine
1884 James Blaine Ma, Ma, Where’s my Pa, Gone to the White House, Ha, Ha, Ha
1888 Benjamin Harrison Rejuvenated Republicanism
1896 William McKinley Patriotism, Protection, and Prosperity
1900 William McKinley A Full Dinner Pail
1916 Woodrow Wilson He kept us out of war
1920 Warren G. Harding Return to normalcy
1920 Warren G. Harding Cox and Cocktails
1924 Calvin Coolidge Keep cool with Coolidge
1928 Herbert Hoover A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage
1952 Dwight Eisenhower I Like Ike
1956 Dwight Eisenhower Peace and Prosperity
1960 Richard Nixon For the future
1964 Lyndon B. Johnson The stakes are too high for you to stay at home
1964 Barry Goldwater In your heart you know he’s right
1968 Richard Nixon Nixon's the One
1976 Gerald Ford He’s making us proud again
1976 Jimmy Carter Not Just Peanuts
1976 Jimmy Carter A Leader, For a Change
1980 Ronald Reagan Are you better off than you were four years ago?
1984 Ronald Reagan It’s morning again in America
1984 Walter Mondale America Needs a Change
1988 George Bush Kinder, Gentler Nation
1992 Bill Clinton Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow
1992 Bill Clinton Putting People First
1992 Ross Perot Ross for Boss
1996 Bill Clinton Building a bridge to the 21st century
1996 Bob Dole The Better Man for a Better America
2000 Al Gore Prosperity and progress
2000 Al Gore Prosperity for America's families
2000 George W. Bush Compassionate conservatism
2000 George W. Bush Leave no child behind
2000 George W. Bush Real plans for real people
2000 George W. Bush Reformer with results
2000 Ralph Nader Government of, by, and for the people...not the monied interests
2004 John Kerry Let America be America Again
2004 George W. Bush Yes, America Can!
2008 John McCain Country First
2008 Barack Obama Change We Can Believe In
2008 Barack Obama Change We Need
2008 Barack Obama Hope
2008 Barack Obama Yes We Can!
2012 Ballistic Candidate An Orgasmic Tomorrow
