Forward and other slogans

Did you ever include a slogan in one of your speeches?

Last month the Obama presidential reelection campaign picked out a single word slogan - Forward. Immediately the Washington Times ranted that New Obama slogan has long ties to Marxism, socialism. There’s a  brief video of Lou Dobbs repeating that claim on Fox, and a longer one showing he didn’t like any of Obama’s other slogans either. Forward does sound better than backward, and upward sounds better than downward.

I found it hilarious to see conservatives hadn’t realized that Forward was the motto for the State of Wisconsin and appears on their flag and seal. Also, the phrase Forward for Freedom was the motto of the battleship USS Wisconsin, and later used by Ronald Reagan for a 1986 speech.

Jay Heinrichs (aka Figaro) blogged that he liked Forward as a motto, and reminded us that William F. Buckley’s definition of a conservative was someone who stands athwart history yelling STOP as is shown above by a pair of signs.

It’s no worse than some advertising slogans that you’re not supposed to disagree with like:

Enhances cellular rejuvenation
Firms sagging facial muscles
Prevents excess hair loss
Promotes healthy digestion
Reduces congestion
Removes unwanted toxins

Forward is not that boring or awful of a political slogan, compared with some others you’ll find listed on Wikipedia. How about:

Vote as you shot (1868)
Grant us another term (1872)
Grandfather’s hat fits Ben (1888)
Let well enough alone (1900)
Hoo but Hoover? (1928)
Ross for boss (1992)

Mitt Romney’s slogan Believe in America also was used by John Kerry during part of his 2004 presidential campaign. That was back when he was in the U.S. Senate representing Massachusetts, and Mitt Romney was governor. Perhaps Mitt liked it because it seemed familiar.

After I imagined all the expensive talent had that labored to come up with those two campaign slogans, I was humbled to find out the the national motto for The Bahamas - Forward, Upward, Onward Together was devised by a pair of eleven year old schoolchildren.