Genius political one-liners can have the power to stick with voters throughout a politician's campaign. They can create an image of a politician that represents them forever...but this may not be such a good thing for some..It is incredible that despite all that a politician does and sacrifices for the country, their entire career can be destroyed by a single one-liner...but do they deserve it? That's for you to decide!
The following is a collection of the top ten unfortunate political one-liners of America's history:
"I am not a crook." -Richard Nixon, 1973
"I did not have sexual relations with that woman." -Bill Clinton, 1998
"Read my lips: no new taxes." -George H.W. Bush, 1988
"The fundamentals of the economy are strong." -John McCain 2008
"I've looked on a lot of women with lust. I've committed adultery in my heart many times." -Jimmy Carter, 1976
"It's vile. It's more sad than anything else, to see someone with such potential throw it all down the drain because of a sexual addiction."- Mark Foley, 1998
"We still seek no wider war."- Lyndon B. Johnson, 1964
"That depends on what the meaning of 'is' is." -Bill Clinton, 1998
"The fundamental business of the country, that is, production and distribution of commodities, is on a sound and prosperous basis." -Herbert Hoover, 1929
"You know, I always wondered about that taping equipment but I'm damn glad we have it, aren't you?" -Richard Nixon, 1973
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12 comments:
Oh boy.
Haha, my favorite is definitely
"That depends on what the meaning of 'is' is." -Bill Clinton, 1998
I laughed out loud when I read that one.
Oh, you silly political figures!
Nice collection of quotes! Yet, I'm surprised to see there is a lack of quotes from our current president. They're worth posting..here are some memorable ones. =)
"They misunderestimated me." --Bentonville, Ark., Nov. 6, 2000
"I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe and what I believe -- I believe what I believe is right." --Rome, Italy, July 22, 2001
"Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream." --LaCrosse, Wis., Oct. 18, 2000
"Rarely is the questioned asked: Is our children learning?" --Florence, South Carolina, Jan. 11, 2000
"There's an old saying in Tennessee -- I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee -- that says, fool me once, shame on --shame on you. Fool me -- you can't get fooled again." --Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002
"You work three jobs? ... Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is fantastic that you're doing that." --to a divorced mother of three, Omaha, Nebraska, Feb. 4, 2005
All from this website-----
http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/bushquotes/a/dumbbushquotes.htm
You have to remember for each of these, they have to either. Appeal to the public, or are created try and reverse public opinion on the government. So it is hard to be critical of them
Well, everyone has "bad moments." Let's remember that even President-Elect Obama talked about putting lipstick on a pig when talking about Sarah Palin. Thankfully, it did not have much effect on his campaign.
I love these quotes because the definitly re-emphasize the effect that today's media has on the information we are getting. These 1 sentance sound bites can ruin a canidate's run in a second.
And just to clarify, Obama was not talking about Sarah Palin with the lipstick comment. He was refering to McCain's plans for the economy when he took over. Obama was implying that Mcain was simply "putting lipstick on a pig" by informing the public on these "new" economic plans.
To hear NPR's take on the common phrase just listen to this piece:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94481288
All I can say is that I am happy that not all Americans were not pulled inot the GOp's tricks like you so clearly were.
Everything that came out of Nixon's mouth is hilarious. Actually his gestures were quite humerious also.
Presidents seem to be remembered for hand gestures too. Like G.W. Bush and the 3 fingered W, and Nixon's attractive self and his peace signs.
Oone-liners do have the power to destroy careers. One-liners are powerful not only in politics, but in other areas of life as well. For example, Shaquille O'neal's one-liner against Kobe Bryant goes like this,
"KOBE, TELL ME HOW MY *** TASTE!?!?!".
Funny one-liners/catchphrases like this one get stuck in people's head very quickly and they have tremendous effects.
Anyways, back to politics, I believe that politicians should not be judged/criticized because of foolish one-liners. We all make mistakes and we should just let them slide. Let's judge them by their actions, not by their words.
Whether some politicians deserve to have their entire careers destroyed depends on the person. For someone like Nixon, I'd be glad to have it ruin his career. For someone like Carter, I felt he just was being the too honest man that he was, which was his bad, but he didn't deserve that, even if he wasn't the best political figure.
I agree with kate on the second Clinton quote. that one cracked me up as well.
and i think we forgot the bush quote of "Is our Children learning?"
by the way, if anyone finds that Daily show video that Ms. Meyer showed us last year about bush and the stuff he said, let me know. it was hilarious.
That's quite the list there. The only thing that i would not agree with this list is the lack of sarah palin quotes. this one woman gaffe factory was possibly one of the biggest reasons that the McCain ticket did as badly as it did.
Memorable one liners include:
"All of 'em, any of 'em that have been in front of me over all these years."
"As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where– where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border."
"If [the media] convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations then I don't know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media."
"As for that VP talk all the time, I'll tell you, I still can't answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day?"
epic fail
hahahaha I love this post. I agree with Kate... my favorite was definitely "That depends on what the meaning of 'is' is." These quotes just go to show how human Presidents are. They slip up like everyone else. They make mistakes and then lie to cover them up. Everyone does it, but unfortunately for the presidents, their mistakes make a far larger impression than any of ours will.
thats hella funny, i like moekas one about education "Rareley is the question asked, Is our children learning?" But when you think about it, these people's every words are being examined, if you had that kind of pressure in your face all the time you'd say some stupid things that you might not have really ment to say. Even "obama allmighty" has had some slip ups if you look for them
I think that one-liners can be useful, like "Yes, We Can" in Obama's case, but dumb phrases like these shouldn't be representative of an entire campaign. It's completely unfair to the nominees. Contrary to popular belief, presidential nominees aren't superhuman; they make mistakes. I personally say dumb stuff everyday that I would be embarrassed if the American people heard, but I consider myself intelligent and politically knowledgeable. These lines are funny, but should impact the reputation of the nominee at all. And unfortunately, these lines defnitely have an impact on the campaign as a whole. It's a damn shame.
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