Campaign Slogans: To Recycle Or Not To Recycle?

Ben Smith reported last night that Mitt Romney's new slogan, "Believe in America," was previously used by John Kerry for a cross-country bus tour. However, many presidential campaign slogans have been strikingly similar, albeit not exactly the same, as previous campaigns:

• George W. Bush's 2004 campaign message, as introduced at his RNC Nomination speech was "TURN THE CORNER," which was near identical to FDR's 1932 slogan, "WE ARE TURNING THE CORNER"
• Both Nixon and Reagan stressed the urgency of their message, Nixon with "NIXON NOW" and Reagan with "THE TIME IS NOW"
• John McCain's 2008 slogan "COUNTRY FIRST," was almost the same as Warren Harding's "AMERICA FIRST" in 1920.
• Eisenhower's "WE LIKE IKE" sounded like a rip-off of Wendell Willkie's 1940 message "WE WANT WILKIE," except one was a rhyme and the other used alliteration.

Donald Trump on Citizen Kane

Now that Donald Trump is getting so much media attention as a potential republican presidential candidate for the 2012 nomination, it's worth taking a look at this little-known project that Errol Morris aborted several years ago. The subject? Orson Welles' groundbreaking 1941 film Citizen Kane, which was a thinly veiled portrayal of media tycoon William Randolph Hearst.

The film painted an bitterly unsympathetic portrait of Kane and was received unfavorably by Hearst. In turn, this documentary short provides some insights about Mr. Trump, who admits that wealth isolates the wealthy from regular people -- but is it a positive or negative portrayal of the Donald? 

Goldwater Revisited: In Your Heart You Know SHE'S Right

Barry Goldwater's 1964 campaign slogan, "in your heart you know he's right," has been resurrected at CPAC -- but this time it's for Sarah Palin: 

Of course, Goldwater's "heart" slogan was mocked by the left, who countered, "in your guts you know he's nuts":

For campaign parallels between 2012 and 1964, see my post Purity & Practicality in the GOP

Flashback: Reagan Declares Candidacy in 1979

This should be required viewing for any republican considering a run for the GOP nomination in 2012. The text of this speech could be delivered today almost verbatim and the message would be equally effective... Text of the speech is available here.