Late in the most recent Republican presidential debate, Chris Christie chided his rivals for using clichés, jargon and other forms of politician-speak.
“I feel like I need a Washington-to-English dictionary converter,” declared the New Jersey governor.
Christie was right, even if he did have a self-interest in coming off as the blunt-spoken truth teller of the field at the debate.
In the waning hours before Iowa Caucus votes come in, here are some of the well-worn and tired phrases candidates and pundits are using:
1. “The only poll that counts is on Election Day”
Perhaps the most tired of political clichés, it’s the standard spin move of candidates who trail in polls.
Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina used a version of it in the January 28 undercard debate.
“I’m going to put my faith every single time not in the pundits, not in the polls,” said the former tech executive.
The cliché has actually taken a beating in political circles for its ubiquity. A turning point came in December 2014 just before the Louisiana Senate runoff. The incumbent, Democrat Mary Landrieu, trailing badly in the polls, took heat for saying, “It’s not over until it’s over. The only poll that matters is on Election Day.”
She lost in that poll as well.
2. “It all comes down to turnout”
Yes, it does. But that doesn’t make this any less of a cliché.
NBC’s First Read wrote recently, “Yes, this is a cliché — but it’s also true: Trump and Sanders need a new turnout to win Iowa, while Clinton and Cruz need a traditional turnout. That’s what all of the polling backs up.”
Sanders himself agrees.
“We will win the caucus on Monday night if there is a large voter turnout,” he told a group of campaign volunteers Saturday. “We will lose if there is a low voter turnout,” he reiterated all day Saturday.
3. “My good friend”
Politician-speak for somebody they often can’t stand. “My good friend” is used most commonly on the House or Senate floors in thinly veiled efforts to mask contempt for colleagues under the guise of decorum.
(Really hate someone? Try “my very good friend, the distinguished gentleman.”)
Calling someone a “friend” on the campaign trail is generally not a sign things are going well.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush deployed it against his protégé-turned-presidential rival, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida.
“Marco’s a friend but Americans are looking for a leader,” Bush wrote in an email to Breitbart News after the January 28 debate.
On the Democratic side, Sanders used my good friend as a jab against two targets simultaneously.
“In terms of polling, guess what?” Sanders said at the January 17 Democratic debate. “We are running ahead of Secretary Clinton in terms of taking on my good friend, Donald Trump, beating him by 19 points in New Hampshire, 13 points in the last national poll that I saw.”
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz even sent out a last-minute fundraising pitch referring to rival Trump as his friend.
“When I first announced my campaign, Heidi and I committed that we would run an issues oriented, positive campaign,” Cruz wrote. “Unfortunately, my friend, Donald Trump, didn’t make that same commitment.
4. “Son/daughter of a…”
Presidential candidates frequently describe their humble beginnings to show they’re worthy of the nation’s high office. Ohio Gov. John Kasich is the most persistent. At every turn on the 2016 campaign trail Kasich notes that he’s the son of a mailman.
Several of Kasich’s Republican rivals have their own oft-old stories about being son of a something-or-other. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s father was a bartender and his mother a maid, he reminds audiences. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas frequently refers to his preacher father. Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania adds a twist with recollections of his coal miner grandfather.
5. “Evolved”
A politicians’ euphemism to explain their shifts on issues when it becomes politically convenient. President Barack Obama famously “evolved” into supporting same-sex marriage, and now Trump is relying on it to explain his shift on abortion.
The mogul has been chided by opponents repeatedly for a 1999 statement on “Meet the Press” about his views on abortion: “I am pro-choice in every respect.”
Speaking in Iowa on January 26 Trump explained, “When it comes to pro-life, I’ve evolved.”
6. “Proven Fighter”
A forward-looking phrase likely to appeal to partisans most likely to vote in party caucuses and primaries. Clinton is leaning on the phrase particularly hard as she fends off a stronger-than-expected Democratic primary challenge from Sanders.
At CNN’s Iowa Democratic town hall on January 25, the former secretary of state, senator and first lady sought to portray Sanders as out-of-touch on the reality of actually getting progressive ideas enacted into law. Clinton repeatedly called herself a “proven fighter.”
“They throw all this stuff at me, and I’m still standing,” Clinton said about Republican opponent, past and present, adding that the attacks come “because I’ve been on the front lines of change and progress.”
7. “Premise of your question”
A candidate attempt to deflect attention away from an unflattering topic to one they want to discuss. Nobody’s done it more than Cruz.
The Texas senator used it to push back against queries over unreported loans to his 2012 Senate campaign from Goldman Sachs and Citigroup.
When asked by CNN’s Dana Bash how the loans from the big banks squared with his populist image, Cruz responded, “The premise of your question is not right.”
Chris Christie’s picking up on it, too. In the January 28 debate the New Jersey governor disputed a question from FOX News moderator Megyn Kelly with: “What’s wrong is your premise in the question.”
8. “Bold”
A common description by politicians and supporters about a campaign’s own proposals. It manages to be a punchy, optimistic-sounding break with conventional thinking and deliberately vague all at once.
Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee used it in the January 28 undercard debate.
“I talked about the importance of preserving life, of not just saying we’re going to defund Planned Parenthood,” the former Arkansas governor said. “But let’s do something bolder. Let’s get rid of abortion once and for all by applying the Fifth, and Fourteenth amendment to every person from conception.”
On the other end of the political spectrum, Sanders used the most recent Democratic debate to talk up his democratic socialist economic plan.
“Bottom line is, we need to be bold and decisive, we can create millions of jobs,” he said. And on climate change, “If we do not act boldly and decisively, a bad situation will become worse.”
9. “The American people”
Every politician, even the ones in complete disagreement, claims to speak for the American people. It’s a favorite in House and Senate floor debate and virtually every congressional news conference. And arguably more so in the 2016 presidential race.
Three of the seven Republican candidates on the main January 28 debate stage claimed to know what the American people wanted in the election — Marco Rubio, Chris Christie and Ben Carson. Rubio used it four times in the span of a few minutes.
10. “Career politician”
The very thing most presidential candidates claim not to be even when their bio clearly states otherwise.
“I am not the candidate of career politicians in Washington,” Ted Cruz said at the January 28 Republican debate. Even though he’s a sitting senator for three years, albeit an unpopular one with Capitol Hill colleagues.
Carly Fiorina tried that tack, as well, at the undercard debate. Virtually all of Cruz’s rival have used similar rhetoric, despite long careers in elected office. About the only GOP hopeful proud to be a career politician is Ohio Gov. Kasich, whose stump speech touts his 18 years in Congress and current statehouse tenure.