Mar.17

electoral-vote.com

Dem 51

   

GOP 49

The Word Cup, Round 3: Non-Presidential Slogans

On Wednesday, we revealed the four presidential slogans that still survive in our little contest (vote here, if you haven't already). And today, it's the four non-presidential slogans that continue their march. First, from Group C vs. Group G:

• Black Lives Matter (51.5%) defeats Make Love, Not War (48.5%)
• We Shall Overcome (81.4%) defeats #MeToo (18.6%)

Two different generations' slogans crafted in service of Black equality will thus duel it out.

And then, from Group A vs. Group E:

• Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death! (92.2%) defeats Better Dead than Red (7.8%)
• Remember the Alamo! (52.6%) defeats Segregation Now, Segregation Tomorrow, Segregation Forever (47.4%)

Here, we'll have two slogans that predate the Civil War. And it wouldn't be too terribly wrong to say that one matchup here will be about Black liberty, and one will be about white liberty.

A few reader comments on these matchups:

1. S.D.R. in Raleigh, NC: "Make Love, Not War" defeats "Black Lives Matter"—I hope that if the question of which of these slogans has been more impactful comes up in another decade or so, it will be difficult to pick. But now, in the year 2023, MLNW is the clear winner.
   
   "We Shall Overcome" defeats "#MeToo"—I almost just cut-and-pasted what I wrote above to use again here. But "#MeToo" is unusual in that it encouraged women to share their stories and thus had a major role in creating a movement, whereas most slogans simply helped to galvanize a movement that already existed. So it clearly has had significant impact. That said, it's up against a slogan that played a role in getting the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 passed, so WSO wins out.
   
   
2. D.S. in Palo Alto, CA: In response to J.Z. in St. Paul, we uber-techies, especially those involved in telephony, correctly refer to the # symbol not as "pound" but as an "octothorp," or perhaps "octothorpe."
   
   With that, #MeToo, taken in its entirety, has no particular connotations one way or another.
   
   
3. F.L. in Denton, TX: Looking at some of the leaders: "We Shall Overcome," "Votes for Women," "#MeToo," "Black Lives Matter."
   
   Ages ago (~'80), I took a sociology course. It was pointed out (by Max Weber?) that revolution does not come when things are at their worst, but when there is a scent that change is possible.
   
   
4. A.B. in Wendel, NC: I graduated high school in Texas, and so, though I suspect I am in a minority here, I had to vote for "Remember The Alamo!" That, and being, for much of my life in the minority and the underdog, I also had to vote for "Remember The Alamo!"
   
   
5. G.M. in Laurence Harbor, NJ: I'm not that familiar with any of the four in Groups A and E other than "Better Dead Then Red." I have an unusual connection with this slogan. I was in high school in the waning years of the Cold War. I did, as my junior year history term paper, a piece damning the John Birch Society. Part of the research was obtained from materials that I could pick up from the local John Birch Society storefront down the street from my father's store. Unfortunately, I learned after turning the term paper that the operator of the John Birch Society storefront was the husband of the very same history teacher to whom I submitted my report. Thus it was no surprise that without any spelling errors and without any written comment by the teacher I got a "D-"
   
   
6. J.G. in Olympia, WA: Some commenters wrote in that "Segregaton Today, Segregation Tomorrow, Segregation Forever" only had a minimal impact and therefore shouldn't have been the leader in this group. I'd beg to differ. Yes, the slogan did not accomplish what it set out to do, but it is the fundamental building block of the modern Republican party. Without that nativist vote going to the Republicans, they wouldn't have dominated the Presidential election for the next few decades. They wouldn't have had the white resentment surge that occurred when they lost the presidency that they thought was theirs and that began with Newt Gingrich, followed through to the tea party, gained strength with MAGA, and is in full display now with the MAGA children running roughshod over the Republican party. We don't have a traditional conservative party anymore, we have a populist authoritarian party and a Centrist-Leftist alliance and it is a direct continuation of the political power of those that "Segregation Now, Segregation Tomorrow, Segregation Forever" spoke to and inflamed.

This is the ballot for this round. And, of course, we continue to welcome comments.

Also, you still have one more day to submit nominees for the Greatest Political Blunders competition, which commences next week. (Z)