Criteria & Methodology

Approximately 250 branding, marketing, and advertising professionals were asked to select and rank the top three slogans of the 22* announced Democratic and Republican candidates running for President of the United States. Slogan rankings were based on the following criteria:

Slogans were given a weighted ranking based on the number of votes they received and the rank they were assigned.

Only one slogan per candidate is included in this survey. Not included are any former slogans used by the candidates (before or after their entrance into the race) or any chants such as Feel the Bern, which is not an official campaign slogan of Bernie Sanders.

*As of August 4, 2015

1. From Hope to Higher Ground.  Mike Huckabee
2. A Political Revolution Is Coming.  Bernie Sanders
3. Telling It Like It Is.  Chris Christie
4. Defeat the Washington Machine. Unleash the American Dream.  Rand Paul
5. People Over Politics.  George Pataki
6. Reigniting the Promise for America.  Ted Cruz
7. Jeb!  Jeb Bush
8. Fresh Ideas for America.  Lincoln Chafee
9. Rebuild the American Dream.  Martin O’Malley
10. A New American Century.  Marco Rubio
11. Believe Again.  Bobby Jindal
12. Restore the American Dream for Hardworking Families.  Rick Santorum
13. Leadership You Can Trust.  Jim Webb
14. Hillary for America.  Hillary Clinton
15. New Possibilities. Real Leadership.  Carly Fiorina
16. Heal. Inspire. Revive.  Dr. Ben Carson
17. Gilmore for America.  Jim Gilmore
18. Ready to Be Commander-In-Chief on Day One.  Lindsey Graham
19. Make America Great Again.  Donald Trump
20. Kasich for Us.  John Kasich
21. Reform. Growth. Safety.  Scott Walker
22. We Must Do Right and Risk the Consequences.  Rick Perry

For a humorous take on the slogans from the Class of 2016, click here.

A content analysis of more than 200 U.S. presidential campaign slogans reveals the most commonly used words that candidates have recycled and resurrected with reckless abandon.

1. America(n)
2. Leader/Leadership
3. Change
4. Prosperity
5. Experience
6. Believe
7. Hope
8. Future/Forward/Tomorrow
9. Better
10. Win

Embracing America in one’s slogan is the safe and patriotic thing to do— from America Needs Stevenson (1952) and Let’s Get America Moving Again (JFK, 1960) to A New Voice for a New America (Clinton, 1992), The Better Man for a Better America (Dole, 1992); and America’s Top Gun (Bush, 2004).

Hope and change have always resonated with the American voter. Hope was the cornerstone of Obama’s message in 2008 as was his Change You Can Believe In. Some years earlier, Bill Clinton believed in …a Place Called Hope (1992) and Walter Mondale called for new leadership with America Needs a Change (1984). And after three terms for FDR, Thomas Dewey declared it was Time for a Change (1944).

Slogans that look forward to the future and a better tomorrow have fared well in presidential slogans. Clinton tried Building a Bridge to the Future (1996), Al Gore promised Leadership for the New Millennium, and G.W. Bush was intent on Moving America Forward (2004).

On the other hand, Bob Doles’s Where’s the Outrage? (1996); Tilden or Blood! (Samuel Tilden, 1876); and Ma, Ma, Where’s My Pa? Gone to the White House, Ha, Ha, Ha (Blaine, 1884) tended to alienate voters and came across as mean, petty, or cynical.

There are exceptions, though. Some slogans reminded us of past debacles but made their point in a subtler and more effective way: Reagan’s famous slogan from the 1980 campaign Are You Better Off Than You Were Four Years Ago? served as a powerful reminder of the economic woes that plagued the Carter years; and Remember Hoover helped elect FDR to a second term in 1936 despite the continued ravages of the Depression.

By the way, four words that have never appeared in any of the 200 or so major political slogans since 1828 are: Democracy, constitution, God, and freedom. Curiously enough, candidates talk about them all the time on the stump.

1. America(n)
2. Leader/Leadership
3. Experience
4. Change/Reform
5. Win
6. Peace

1. America(n)
2. Change
3. Prosperity
4. Leader/Leadership
5. Hope
6. Future/Tomorrow

The difference between Democratic and Republican campaign slogans is quite telling. Democrats use the word America or American fifty percent more frequently than Republicans, and mention the word change twice as frequently. Leader or Leadership is used often by both parties but Republicans emphasize it more; and a candidate’s experience, touted often in Republicans slogans, seldom appears in Democratic slogans.

While Democrats focus primarily on prosperity, hope, and the future, as well as inclusive words such as we and together, Republicans tend to focus on campaign issues, past successes, and the candidate’s ability to unite the country, win, and deliver results.

Words used by Republicans that rarely appear in Democratic slogans include pride, taxes, and results; and words used by Democrats that are scarcely seen in Republican slogans are jobs, progress, and opportunity.

On the whole, Democratic candidate slogans are optimistic, forward-thinking, and people-centric — i.e., prosperity for all through more jobs, better wages, and economic progress. The Democrats know your challenges and are building bridges for a better tomorrow. They’re on your side, giving you a voice, and working for you.

In contrast, Republican candidate slogans extol American pride and greatness, which is made possible through conservative principles, real reform, and experienced leaders. These leaders have what it takes to get the job done, move the country forward, and deliver true prosperity. Republican candidates are first in peace and are better at keeping us safe and prepared. Their past glory and successes guarantee they’ll continue to make things right at home and throughout the world.

Apart from their ostensible political message, presidential campaign slogans have always benefited from rhetorical gambits that enable the message, sound, and meaning of a slogan to work in harmony with one other. Here are a few examples of campaign slogans that are artful, clever, and pleasurable in their construction and persuasive effect:

• Life, Liberty, and Landon (1936) – Alliteration (The recurrence of initial consonant sounds, usually juxtaposed)
• Hero of New Orleans (Jackson, 1828) – Allusion (reference to a famous person or event)
• Keep Cool with Coolidge (1924) – Assonance (similar vowel sounds repeated in successive or proximate words containing different consonants)
• Give ‘Em Hell, Harry! (Truman, 1948) – Colloquialism (an informal word or phrase of conversational language that brings color to everyday speech)
• Grant Us Another Term (Grant, 1872) – Double meaning (A figure of speech similar to the pun in which a phrase can be understood in either of two ways)
• Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Speech, Free Men, and Fremont (John C. Fremont, 1856) – Epizeuxis (Repetition of one word, usually for emphasis)
• It’s the Economy, Stupid (Clinton, 1992) – Hyperbole (Deliberately exaggerates conditions for emphasis or effect)
• Liberty We Want Beer (Al Smith, 1928) – Metaphor (Compares two different things by speaking of one in terms of the other)
• Let’s Be Done with Wiggle and Wobble (Harding, 1920) – Meter (The rhythmic pattern that emerges when words are arranged in such a way that their stressed and unstressed syllables fall into a more or less regular accented pattern)
• Sunflowers Die in November (FDR, 1936) – Metonymy (A form of metaphor in which a closely associated object is substituted for the object or idea in mind; in this instance, the sunflower was Landon’s campaign symbol)
• I Like Ike (1952); Click with Dick (Nixon, 1960); All the Way with LBJ (1964) – Rhyme
• Who is James K. Polk? (Henry Clay, 1844) – Sarcasm (The use of irony to mock or convey contempt)

Some campaign slogans were even lifted from popular songs of the day. When you get voters singing, how can you lose? Here are a few:

• Tippecanoe and Tyler Too (W.H. Harrison, 1840)
• Happy Days are Here Again (FDR, 1932)
• I’m Just Wild about Harry (Truman, 1948)
• Don’t Stop Thinking about Tomorrow (Clinton, 1992)

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