The 2012 Campaign So Far, In Words
The 2012 presidential election will take place exactly fifty-two weeks from today. Whether one feels this period of time is very far away or remarkably imminent, it is clear that the campaign for the presidency has been very much underway for a while. As evidence, here are ten quotations (in chronological order, by party) that have begun to frame the upcoming election and have already had an influence on who might eventually win the election.
Republican Division:
* “…we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas.” – Rick Perry, August 15, 2011
A presidential candidate suggests that the Chairman of the Federal Reserve is treasonous and jokes about lynching him. Awesome.
* “I don’t think you have a heart.” – Rick Perry, September 22, 2011
The Texas governor–not yet giddily transfixed by a bottle of maple syrup–provides additional indications that he might not be cerebrating properly by essentially calling most Republicans and almost all of his base heartless bastards during his response to a debate question on immigration. Perry’s poll numbers plummet accordingly.
* “Now is not my time.” – Chris Christie, October 4, 2011
Who knows how the New Jersey governor would have played if, instead of issuing the statement above, he had joined the race for the Republican nomination. Like second string quarterbacks, presidential candidates often enjoy their highest esteem before they dirty themselves in the process of actual participation. I still wonder how suburban women would respond to a fat guy who berates school teachers. But Christie does have traits that could have shaken up the race and his decision to pass on a run may prove to the most important G.O.P. 2012 campaign-related words of all.
* “I’m running for office, for Pete’s sake.” – Mitt Romney, October 18, 2011
Romneytron 2012 peels back the metal to provide human expression in explaining why he would be careful not to employ an illegal immigrant. The quote can also be used to understand most things Romney believes says.
* “You want a job, right?” – Herman Cain (allegedly, 1997) as stated by Sharon Bialek, November 7, 2011
Herman Cain’s surprising status as a Republican frontrunner seems damaged by the recent disclosure of previous sexual harassment claims against him, as well as the charge that he expressed this art-of-seduction clunker to a woman who once worked where he worked, but didn’t anymore? Time will tell if the quote matters, but I’m confident it will find a place in the American vernacular.
President Obama Division:
* “Pass this bill now!”– Barack Obama, September 7, 2011
President Obama must have known that his jobs bill had almost no chance to pass in the face of nearly unanimous Republican opposition to almost everything he has proposed. Nevertheless, he expressed this phrase (or a variant of it) 17 times during a speech to a joint session of Congress in what many fairly analyzed as an early campaign speech. It will be easier to talk about a do-nothing Congress (with all-time low 9% approval rating) after being on record exhorting them to do something so conspicuously and vigorously.
* “It’s not class warfare, it’s math.” – Barack Obama, September 19, 2011
To Obama supporters, this quote about the importance of reducing the U.S. budget deficit is sharp and true. To Obama’s detractors, it is arrogant and phony. It tells us much about how this issue is perceived as well as how President Obama is perceived.
* “…ask Osama bin Laden.” – David Axelrod, October 18, 2011
Not a bad response to those who claim that President Obama is weak in foreign affairs or overmatched in office.
* “The United States obviously has unique capacities…” – Barack Obama, October 20, 2011
This quote was spoken soon after it was learned that Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi had been captured and killed by Libyan rebels, who had been aided enormously by U.S. supported NATO warplanes. It struck me as an instrument of campaign-related armor to counter the still-incessant claims that President Obama does not believe America is an exceptional nation.
* “We can’t wait!” – Barack Obama, October 24, 2011
Presidential incumbents can do things that other candidates can’t, such as conveying urgency through the establishment of programs that do not require the consent of Congress. President Obama has done this over the past few weeks in the areas of mortgage refinancing, student loan reductions, and the hiring of returning veterans. In addition to expressing energy in the executive, it also likely reflects the attitude of a president increasingly unleashed in his run for a second term.
