Day By Day© by Chris Muir.

Friday, February 10, 2006

The Great Conservative Slogan Contest

I originally intended to run this through February 14, but realized I have some timing problems. I'll therefore begin the voting process this weekend. "I like Ike." "A chicken in every pot; A car in every garage." "All the way with LBJ." "It's morning again in America." These are some of the great campaign slogans that stuck in the public subconscious and helped propel candidates to victory. "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit." "Remember the Maine." "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" Pithy sayings that changed history. The problem is that, in this MTV age where everyone has a ten second attention span, it's the Left that has cornered the slogans.. They've got a lock on pithy sayings on just about every topic: "No war for oil." "Keep your hands off my body." "Tax cuts for the rich." "Somewhere in Texas a village is missing its idiot." "Bush lied, people died." These are the "plop, plop, fizz, fizzes" of the political age -- sayings that soak deep into people's minds, and that are regurgitated in lieu of thought or argument. I'll be the first to admit that it's difficult to take a sophisticated supply side argument, or a history-and-fact rich analysis about the situation in the Middle East, and reduce it to what's essentially a punch line. However, that doesn't mean we shouldn't try. And in that spirit, I hereby inaugurate the Great Conservative Slogan Contest. Submit your slogans on any conservative position in my comment section. Using my discretion (trust me), I'll weed out the top submissions on Valentine's Day and put them to a vote. [See date change at top.] I have absolutely no knack for being pithy (I know you've all noticed this already), but I'll be the first to propose a slogan on taxes:

No one knows how to spend my money better than I do. No new taxes.
By the way, don't forget to tell your friends about this contest. The winner[s], of course, will get huge huzzahs, and have their name[s] splashed all over my blog (that ought to get people to come running). UPDATE: Here's another one: "Wal-Mart - a bulwark against revolution." (Although this one requires way too much explaining to be a viable slogan.) UPDATE II: It occurred to me that I should tell you all that I'm just delighted by the slogans flowing in, both the pre-existing ones (always funny) and the new ones. I'm especially impressed by the creative impulses behind the new ones. When voting comes, so that as many as possible of these new creations can be put to the vote, I'll divide them into categories (NSA, abortion, censorship, taxes, etc.). UPDATE III: I was talking with a fairly liberal friend about a couple of slogans (one involving taxes and one involving the NSA issue). Interesting, the slogans piqued her interest and, because they went to core issues, served as a great starting point for discussion. By the end of the conversation, she was agreeing that the NSA spying made sense under the narrow circumstances present, and that it made sense to free up money for private use (which generates wealth), rather than pouring it into the government maw. These bumperstickers may make a difference!