Feeling bombarded with ads, calls, billboards, texts, etc. about the November 3 election? It’s a war! The war is over YOU and your vote. Every modern means to secure your support is used. Generals in any war use tactics to win the skirmishes and battles along the way. Elections are like that.
Sound bites, slogans, and visual optics are some of the ways to gain your attention. Let’s take a look at a few examples of campaign slogans from past elections:
Abraham Lincoln- “Vote Yourself a Farm”
Harry Truman- “The Buck Stops Here”
William McKinley- “A Full Dinner Pail”
Dwight Eisenhower- “I Still Like Ike” (for his second term)
Lyndon Johnson- “All the Way with LBJ”
Calvin Coolidge- “Keep Cool with Coolidge”
Richard Nixon- “Now More than Ever” (for his second term)
Jimmy Carter- “A Leader, For a Change”
Herbert Hoover- “A Chicken in Every Pot and a Car in Every Garage”
Ronald Reagan- “It’s Morning in America Again” (for his second term)
Bill Clinton- “For People, For a Change”
George HW Bush- “A Kinder, Gentler Nation
Barack Obama- “A Change We Can Believe In”
What do you notice?
Bumper stickers are a way to capture your attention at stoplights and in parking lots. Check some of these out:
Al Smith (ran against Herbert Hoover)- “From the Sidewalks of New York to the White House”
Barry Goldwater (ran against Lyndon Johnson)- “AuH20” (chemical formula for gold +water)
Ron Paul (ran in 2012)- “Revolution” (the “evol” was raised, emphasizing “Love” spelled backward
Jimmy Carter- “gimme jimmy.”
Edmund Muskie (ran in 1972)- “President Muskie: Don’t You Feel Better Already?”
Hillary Clinton- “Hillary 2016”
John McCain- “McCain/Palin”
Dr. Ben Carson- “I’m with Ben”
There’s also campaign paraphernalia:
Gerald Ford matchbook- “Betty for First Lady” (his wife)
Bill Clinton campaign button- “Vote for Hillary’s Husband”
Ronald Reagan’s “jelly bean” postcards (he was an aficionado of the candy)
Barack Obama – car flags
John McCain- “mouse” pad for computer
Yard signs for candidates
All of this is done to capture your attention and your vote. It costs the campaign money to produce these items and give them away. The thinking is that you are more likely to vote for said candidate if you have a remembrance. Many items can also be purchased to help finance the candidate of your choice.
Who remembers some campaign slogans on items? Better yet, do you still have any campaign gear? Have you ever worked in a presidential campaign? Have you been to an event where the presidential candidate visited your town?
This is Common Sense Civics and Citizenship. ??
**Next on Simple Civics 101, we will take a look at the basics of campaign strategies.
