“Nixon’s the One.” That particular slogan was birthed by a group of writers and payrolled political “experts” after days of debate, according to Joe McGinnis, the author who made a name for himself 32 years ago by writing “The Selling
“Nixon’s the One.”
That particular slogan was birthed by a group of writers
and payrolled political “experts” after days of debate, according to Joe
McGinnis, the author who made a name for himself 32 years ago by writing “The
Selling of the President,” about Richard Nixon’s 1968 political
campaign.
“All the way with LBJ” had a little more pop to it and was also a
committee product four years earlier on behalf of Lyndon B. Johnson.
Since
the ’60s, more and more mainland politicians have relied on the media and the
tools of the media to catch the voter’s eye. And ear.
Meanwhile, on Kaua’i,
in the hotly contested County Council race, incumbent Daryl Kaneshiro has a
truly memorable slogan: “No Bull.”
This pithy little phrase claims that
Kaneshiro won’t lie to the voters and plays on his ranching expertise at the
same time.
Clever, succinct and yet, Kaneshiro is the only one of seven
incumbents who finished out of the money in the primary, in eighth place, a
result that makes one wonder just what impact, if any, clever slogans have on
the electorate.
Another incumbent, Bryan Baptiste was the leading
votegetter in the primary council race (8,881 votes) as well as in the 1998
general election. But Baptiste doesn’t seem to be spending a whole lot of his
time on slogans.
“Mine is, `You and I, getting things done.’ I use it every
election,” Baptiste said.
And whose brainchild is it, this seemingly most
effective of slogans?
“I can’t even remember,” he said.
Councilman
Jimmy Tokioka grew up on this island. And he’s in business here. He finished
solidly in fifth place with 7,328 votes in the primary. His slogan plays to his
background: “Of Kaua`i, for Kaua`i.”
“I was talking to Hartwell Blake
(county attorney) and he said, `I think that would be a good slogan for you.’ I
get lots of good ideas from people, but I liked Hartwell’s. A campaign slogan
has to be short, you know,” Tokioka said.
John Baretto Jr., a former
council member, finished in ninth place in the primary with 3,896 votes, “the
lowest total I’ve ever gotten in an election.”
Barretto’s not sure his low
vote total has anything to do with his new slogan, which he wrote himself:
“Progress and preservation. Let’s get it together.” But he said he had no plans
to junk it.
When he ran for mayor, Barretto had a different catchphrase:
“The Only Reasonable Choice.”
He wrote that one, too.
“Leadership.
Experience. Common Sense” is the slogan of Councilman Billy Swain, who finished
seventh during his first run in 1998 and seventh in last month’s primary, with
5,866 votes.
Swain said his slogan was a team effort.
“A few of us were
tossing around ideas, and that came up. I like it,” he said.
Councilman
Gary Hooser, first elected in 1998, finished a strong sixth in this year’s
primary with 7,058 votes. Hooser has a slogan that stemmed directly from his
campaigning and is as short as Kaneshiro’s.
“When I ran last time, I found
out people were calling me the Hoos. Like, `Howzit, Hoos.’ So that’s our
slogan: `Choose the Hoos,'” the candidate said.
Councilman Ron Kouchi, who
finished fourth in the primary with 7,471 votes, has been using the same slogan
for most of his nearly 20 years in local politics.
“These guys who designed
my signs,” Kouchi said, “liked `For Kaua`i. For Good.'” That’s on the new
signs.
“But for a slogan I still use, `Together we can make a good Kaua`i
even better,'” Kouchi related. “Actually, what happened years ago during my
first campaign (in 1982), I saw that (phrase) in some text and I thought that’s
what I’m trying to do. I chose to come back to Kaua`i after living on the
mainland and Honolulu because it was a good place, but there are always new
things that could make it better.”
First-time candidate Rhoda Libre, who
finished 10th in the primary, 3,000 votes behind Swain in seventh (the top
seven finishers in the Nov. 7 general election will comprise the council), said
her solution to garnering more votes is to campaign even harder.
“I’m going
out there all the time,” she said.
Nevertheless, Libre’s slogan through the
primary was “New face, fresh ideas, a time of change.”
For the general
election, she said, she’s tagged on another line that refers to the council’s
all-male makeup: “Add a woman’s point of view.”
Staff writer Dennis
Wilken can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) and dwilken@pulitzer.net
