Jan 29, 2011

Geoff Nunberg Analyzes Obama's New Catchphrase on NPR's Weekend Edition

From Weekend Edition Saturday, on National Public Radio

Will 'Win The Future' Be A Winner For Obama?

By Ari Shapiro

Last week's State of the Union address came with a catchphrase: "Win the Future." Not surprising since the Obama team has a lot of experience with political slogans.

"Change We Can Believe In" was a runaway hit. So was "Yes We Can." Other promises, such as "Recovery Summer," failed to deliver.

Will "Win the Future" be a winner?...

Geoff Nunberg of the [School of Information at the] University of California at Berkeley says the best predictor of a slogan's success is whether the program it's attached to succeeds.

For example, Nunberg says people panned the phrase "Great Society" during the Johnson administration.

"It was considered at the time a pompous inflated choice of words," Nunberg says. "Johnson had initially preferred 'A Better Deal,' which didn't really take off, but because the program itself was so successful, the phrase is still with us."...

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Last updated:

October 4, 2016