At dinner during a recent meeting of Democrats Abroad in Brussels, an articulate American investment banker from London recounted the story of a visit he’d made to a Republican gathering in the US where he learned that the unofficial motto of the Republican party is:
Guns, Guts and God make America great. Republican Party.
This pithy catchphrase impressed me. In 9 words it defines a coalition of voters (church-goers, rural gun-owners, and military families), emphasizes strong patriotism, and sketches a personality that’s instantly familiar to many people.
“So,” he went on to ask, “what’s the analogous slogan for Democrats?”
There were a lot of intelligent people at the table, and murmured discussion followed. The closest anyone could get to a counterpart was the familiar “Strength through diversity.” But it doesn’t pack the rhetorical punch of the Republican slogan. In fact, it could be cynically interpreted as another way of saying “We couldn’t agree on a motto.”
I found myself wondering whether this was an inherent state of affairs. In a two-party system, if one party comprises a well-defined coalition, the other party could end up picking up the scraps — and be left with such a diverse group of members that it would have trouble expressing common cause, except “we’re not them.”
Or maybe a group defined by its tolerance, rationality, and empiricism simply can’t deliver the kind of bumper-sticker policy positions as the Republican party.
Certainly the division we see right now between the Obama and Clinton supporters hasn’t happened in the Republican party, despite the fact that McCain is despised by many conservatives.
I was reminded of another quote I read recently:
A conservative is a liberal who got mugged and a liberal is a conservative who got arrested.
There’s a symmetry in here which would seem to point the way to some kind of catchphrase.
Liberal political groups in other parts of the world manage to cohere well, and to express themselves compellingly.
Can you come up with a catchy slogan for the Democratic Party?
Posted on 30 March 2008
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Don’t forget urban gun owners. Probably much more numerous that rural gun owners.
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Good point Russ.
It’s the intersection of Guns and God that evokes rural populations. And cities tend to be more liberal.
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Peace, Porn, and Polygamy?
Gays, Gifts, and Godlessness? -
Building our future.
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I often emphasize to Democratic candidates in my region the importance of not giving up on rural gun owners. (I’m a rural gun owner — I two .22s and a 1948 Turkish Mauser.) It’s the willingness to surrender certain demographics that’s been so bad for the party.
Though none of that is helping to come up with a slogan.
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…they call themselves democrats, but they advocate a republican form of government. I’m getting tired of this.
I’m a morally conservative meritocratic socialist. *sigh*
Independent ticket: Just Use Yer Frigging Head.
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The problem is that the Democrats *are* precisely as mealy-mouthed and worn as they come off. They are nothing more than the lesser evil, at best a wonky technocrat, at worst an inept bureaucrat. Constantly suckered and afraid–both of the opinion of the “fiscal conservatives” upon who’s donations they rely, and the words and actions of the hard left which may diminish those contributions. But, of course, they depend on the hard left as well. It’s always a balancing act between the extremes, so you end up with a lot of false dichotomies and empty words.
That said, in a choice between a technocrat and a brownshirt, it’s certainly better to go with the technocrat, so let’s aim the sloganeering thataways:
The Democratic Party: Everyone Else Is Fucking Crazy! (youth-friendly)
The Democratic Party: A Bourgeois State At It’s Best (Aiming for the highly-educated intellectuals who don’t already vote for us—all thirteen of them)
Killin’ Em With The Pen Is Cheaper. The Democratic Party. (North Carolina Will Be Ours!)
The Democratic Party: Because Your Bedroom is Your Business (Kansas will buy this until they figure out that “your” is not an exclusive)
We Sold Your Job To Mexico and Will Let The Queers Kiss! Fuck Yeah! (Retool: probably won’t play well in Michigan)
And perhaps the best of all:
Because Human Extinction Is Forever. Vote Dems.
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“Let it be”?
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@asd: So you’re saying the Republican’s slogan should actually be “Bigots, Bullets and Bedtime Stories make America great. Republican Party.”
Or maybe “Crucifying, Copyright and Cheating make America great. Republican Party.”
?
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Democrats: “We may not be able to agree on a nominee, but at least it’s not John McCain”
Disclaimer: I’m a conservative Republican, but I do have an idea for a new Republican slogan: “Attention neoconservatives: Please leave. Thanks”
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“We’re not Bush”
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High Taxes, Mediocrity enforced by Unions and Socialized Medicine! These are things that make the Democrats great…err not great? I love how it is implied over and over that intellectuals are always democrats. Living in California and spending a large part of my time in the Bay Area I would offer that most neo-liberals are rabid foaming-mouth socialist limousine liberals whose tears drop ever so mournfully into their $7 latte’s over the state’s poor and under-privileged. Their idea of helping out is throwing their Mexican gardener an extra Benjamin at Christmas time. Both parties are completely broken. In the eighties a moral majority shanghai’d the reps and in the late nineties the neo-facist radical left took over the dems. Watching politics is like watching professional wrestling now.
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What makes a person a Democrat is much less definable, by definition.
For example, a gay athiest is very likely to be a Democrat for obvious reasons, but a straight Christian can also fit in to the party just as well. One of the keys to liberalism is personal freedom of choice. One doesn’t have to be gay, or even like gays, to say, “I dislike your personal decisions, but respect your right to live the life that works for you without being chastised.” It is this acceptance that people can and should be the person that best fits them, that makes describing those on the left difficult. -
I thought I would add that I am not and have never been registered as a Democrat and don’t give a crapa bout the Democratic party.
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Less politics, more interesting/tech related/funny stuff!
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The democratic party stands for sensible regulation, fair and open markets, and a level playing field.
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“Love is stronger than fear. Also, recycle. Democratic Party.”
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How about “hearts and minds”? Liberalism has long been associated with compassion. Once, conservatism was associated with cold-eyed realism, but that has been fading away for decades, and rationality has been left for Democrats to pick up more or less by default.
(I like to hope that McCain is a true remnant of what conservatism once meant. I hope McCain 2008 isn’t as different from McCain 2000 as he sometimes seems.)
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Liberty, Equality, Humanity
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