Slogans: Campaigns seek a knockout punch.

"Are you better off today than you were four years ago?"

That question was a good slogan in 1980. Inflation was 10 percent, the Fed Chair was raising interest rates every quarter, gasoline was expensive, and Americans were being held hostage in Iran. Candidate Ronald Reagan used the question to focus on voter frustration with President Jimmy Carter.

"Extremism, in the defense of liberty, is no vice," was not successful as a short argument on behalf of candidate Barry Goldwater in 1964. It backfired. It acknowledged his far-right position within the GOP, and described it with the word extreme, which a majority of people did think was a vice.

An exclamation point does not put energy into a low-energy campaign. I watched him speak multiple times in New Hampshire. His campaign slogan should have been, "If you like Bush presidents, hey, I'm yet another."

In 1972, with the Vietnam War still underway, President Nixon used this campaign slogan positing Nixon as the experienced, steady hand at the tiller.

Slogans attempt to make one's strongest case. Oregon Republicans attempting to win state legislative seats are framing their argument as "Bring Balance to Salem." It is a good slogan. Balance seems like a good thing, especially if one thinks that status quo is off-balance. They aren't saying, "We have all the levers of power in Washington, D.C., and we love not having balance there, and if you elect us to office in Oregon, we will obey demands from President Trump because he squashes like a cowering bug any Republican who disobeys him." That is too long to be a slogan that fits on a bumper strip.

Erich Almasy and I have both mused about campaign slogans. Erich is a college classmate. He went on to Harvard Business School, then had a long career on the consultancy-business management track. He and his classmate wife, Cynthia Blanton, live in Mexico.

Guest Post by Erich Almasy

Campaign Slogans

As any marketing executive will tell you, slogans need to be short, emotional, on point, while describing a difference. This is true whether it’s a product, service, or political campaign. In the United States, political sloganeering is almost as old as the country. In 1798, a South Carolina Congressman shouted the phrase, “millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute,” at a dinner party welcoming diplomat John Marshall upon his return from France. Marshall had been negotiating the so-called XYZ Affair, a quasi-war with France where American merchant ships were being attacked. The French wanted a large payment, essentially a bribe, to stop the attacks. In response, the United States began building a national navy to protect its commercial interests. In 1801, President Thomas Jefferson used this navy to fight the Barbary Pirates of North Africa, refusing to pay the demanded tribute. Commodore Stephen Decatur led the U.S. forces and became famous for his toast, “Our country! In her intercourse with foreign nations, may she always be in the right; but our country, right or wrong."

Slogans are utilized by all political parties using both positive and negative messages. The Federalist Party referred to the War of 1812 as “Mr. Madison’s War,” just as Republicans later called World War I, “Mr. Wilson’s War.” This response skewered Wilson’s 1916 slogan, “He kept us out of war.” The 1884 campaign of Democrat Grover Cleveland was blackened by the Republican phrase, “Ma, ma, where’s my pa?” referencing an alleged illegitimate child Cleveland had in Buffalo, NY. After winning, Cleveland, who did not deny the charge, and his supporters added the phrase, “gone to the White House, ha, ha, ha.”

Democratic slogans tend to focus on forward progress, economic opportunity, healthcare, and unity, which often makes them much duller than the pithy Republican themes of blatant patriotism and economic prosperity, especially lower taxes. Often there is hidden subtext (the infamous dog whistles), such as Warren Harding’s “America First,” when the Ku Klux Klan was rising in popularity and Asian and Eastern European exclusion bills were about to thwart immigration for the next forty years. Truman’s “The Buck Stops Here” and attacks on the “Do Nothing Congress” were variations from the norm of passive Democratic phrasing. Only 1964’s condemnation of Republican Barry Goldwater - “in your guts, you know he’s nuts” - raised (or lowered) the bar. 

So how do Democrats get back in the game? Here are examples that I would like to see. Some of them are stolen from successful Republican slogans.

“Make Stuff Cost Less.” Actually used now by former North Carolina Democratic Governor Roy Cooper as he bids for a Senate seat. A simple, blue-collar paraphrase of the successful “It’s the Economy, Stupid,” never formally adopted but widespread during the Clinton campaign.

“Are you better off now than you were two years ago?” Directly stolen from Ronald Reagan’s 1980 debate with Jimmy Carter that emphasized inflation. As Reagan learned, inflation is only cured with economic pain.

“Where’s the beef?” A really old Boomer slogan spoken by actor Clara Peller for Wendy’s. Beef prices have soared nearly 20% and are not going down anytime soon. A federal judge has ruled that using this phrase is not a copyright violation.

“Mr. Trump’s War.” From James Madison to Woodrow Wilson, this directly assigns the blame for the Iran war and all it entails to Trump.

“We Can Do a Lot Better." An upgrade to JFK’s “We can do better” and much preferred to Biden’s “Build Back Better." (huh?). As to the Better theme: “We all Deserve Better.” “Women Deserve Better.” “Children Deserve Better.” 

“Trillions for Billionaires, Not One Penny for Health Care.” The Big Beautiful Bill that steals from and kills children and people with less. “Medicare for All,” is likely ahead of its time.

“ICE ain’t Nice.” “I Like Ike” in reverse. ICE has become America’s Gestapo, and nobody but hardcore MAGA likes them.

Where did Republicans’ "Family Values" go? Throughout the 80s and 90s, Republicans used Family Values as a way to push anti-abortion, Christianity, and tradwives. With adulterous candidates like Ken Paxton and Mark Sanford, as well as Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani, and Donald Trump, a case can be made, especially with the devout Texan James Talarico, that Democrats are now the moral party. 

And finally, in the nasty spirit of “Lock her up,” how about a few zingers:

“Greed kills: Get Rid of Billionaires”

“Impeach President Musk.”

“Epstein: What are they hiding?”

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