The Art of Campaign Slogans
During the Great Depression, Herbert Hoover ran his campaign for President on the words A chicken in every pot. A car in every garage. Nearly a hundred years ago, the wants and needs of people were fairly basic. Human needs are not that different now — economic issues rule. Yet, in these more complicated times, we are inundated with branding slogans, taglines, memes, and every imaginable form of shorthand communication — campaign slogans may seem to lose their impact.
However, taking a cue from The Bernie Sanders Hindsight is 2020 slogan, a look back shows how these motivational phrases of the last several decades have shaped US leadership.
The simple “I like Ike,” trending the year I was born, became one of the more celebrated slogans in the story of United States elections.
The presence of Dwight Eisenhower in the 1950s was so strong that I did not understand as a child that the President changed from time to time until 1960 when John F. Kennedy appeared as this shiny young family man who ran on A Time for Greatness. I could not understand why my parents would not want to vote for him. They simply explained that they were Republicans, as if that is reason enough. When we had pretend elections at school, I had to sort out whether it was okay for me to vote differently from my parents. Of course, Kennedy’s era proved to be historic, Lyndon Baines Johnson was sworn into office after the assassination and went on to win the next term on All the Way with LBJ in a race against Barry Goldwater, but lost to Richard Nixon in 1968.
By the time of the 1972 election, the Viet Nam War had spread into Cambodia and opposition to Nixon was stronger than ever. George McGovern captured the support of young Americans and anyone else seeking peace with his timely slogan, “Come Home America.”
Although he lost to Nixon, my first voting experience was memorable after working a bit as a college student volunteer in the small Oswego, New York McGovern campaign office. What followed was the aftermath of the corrupt era of Watergate — Nixon resigned and his VP, Gerald Ford was sworn in and ran in 1976 on He’s Making Us Proud Again. Jimmy Carter opposed him and won with A Leader, For a Change before things slid off track during the 1980s with It’s Morning Again in America (Ronald Reagan) and Kinder, Gentler Nation (George Bush #1). Bill Clinton took on the 1990s with Putting People First in ’92 and again with Building a Bridge to the 21st Century in ‘96.
Then Vice President, Al Gore opposed George Bush #2 (Compassionate Conservatism) in 2000 with his campaign slogan, Prosperity and Progress. John Kerry ran against Bush (Yes, America Can!) in 2004 with Let America Be America Again.
Early in the 2008 campaign season before Barack Obama gained favor, I was rooting for Dennis Kucinich. I just recently gave away his campaign t-shirt with his Strength Through Peace slogan. Like so many other candidates, he gathered a lot of initial support, but not enough to sustain the full duration of the campaign.
Coverage of election gatherings always show people with signs and campaign gear…t-shirts, buttons, hats. Yet, people do not seem to be displaying this way in public. I do see too many posters, bumper stickers or pinbacks in my daily travels around the city where I live. People seem to be more guarded in these devisive times.
Between Bush and Trump we had a respite with Obama’s two terms won on Change We Can Believe In (2008) and Forward (2012).
Not Me, Us (Bernie Sanders) and Ready for Change, Ready to Lead (Hillary Clinton) were each profound in 2016 ideas, but we all know what happened there. Sadly.
When the campaigning began last year, I was taken with candidate Marianne Williamson. Her two slogans, Beat Big Lies with Big Truth and Join the Evolution, along with Andrew Yang’s Humanity First, were refreshing to hear in a political context, even if people have proven to be not quite ready for such ideas from those candidates. Elizabeth Warren continues to offer us her strong points of view in The Best President Money Can’t Buy and Warren Has a Plan for That.
Some of the current campaigns seemed to miss the mark with their slogans:
Our Best Days Still Lie Ahead ( Joe Biden)
Amy for America (Amy Klobuchar)
A New Choice for Democrats (Mike Bloomberg)
A Fresh Start for America (Pete Buttigieg).
There is little to be said about Donald Trump’s Keep America Great, simply an updated version of the one from the last campaign, Make America Great Again. Sigh.
If hindsight is 20/20, some slogans are worthy of reviving:
In Your Guts You Know He’s Nuts. (LBJ 1964)
This time, Vote Like Your Whole World Depended on it. (Nixon 1968)
When #46 is finally sworn in, I do hope we can revive what Gerald Ford said in his first address as President after the corrupt Watergate era:
Our Long National Nightmare is Over.
