Assessing Political Candidates -- Use of Unhelpful Political Terminology

Candidates shouldn't just speak in generalities and expect tow in

Greetings diligent readers of Commentary! 

I wanted to provide a means of assessing political candidates in primary season.  As it stands now the field is packed -- and therefore it is important we equip ourselves with the necessary tools to evaluate candidates.

One way of assessing the quality of candidates is their reliance on unhelpful political terminology.  The poor candidate will have no clue what to say other than rely on canned phrases and things they probably only heard on TV.

To that end we have provided a brief list of unhelpful political terms that you can rely on to eliminate candidates from consideration.  

So let us begin the list so we can keep track of the current political candidates running.

List of Unhelpful Political Terminology

Ambitious -- an adjective used to describe any agenda that expands federal bureaucracy.  People who identify as such are usually ignorant of history and what the founders wrote in The Federalist.

Outsider -- someone who wants to win an election but hasn’t yet.  The term is usually used by aspiring politicians to appeal to voters by portraying themselves as “the common man.”  However this term reeks of desperation.  In fact candidates who rely on this term often hope to compare favorably to former president Trump who many consider the ultimate outsider. These same individuals, however, seem to forget that unlike Trump they don’t have a billion dollars.  The use of this term doesn’t usually help them overcome that fact.  And no lawyers aren’t outsiders either.

Tax Credit/Tax Break -- terms used by allegedly pro business Republicans to advocate for special handouts for their friends, allies, and donors.  Politicians love these giveaways because they appease the public, reward their shadow patrons,  and provide a simple solution to the complex problems they helped create.  

Getting Things Done -- politicians use this phrase to express their desire to spend more tax money.  Usually this “git-r-done” mentality encourages desperate politicians to ignore getting the right things done or doing things the right way.  In PA this has resulted in the incarceration of a large number of former politicians.

Campaign Trail -- people who use this term imagine that campaigning means taking a 19th century horse and buggy on dirt roads around town and hugging locals.  The unserious candidate who still uses this terminology should be automatically disqualified from political consideration.

Any use of these terms should lower the standing of the candidate being evaluated, as all of these terms are unhelpful as they are unthoughtful.  Thus until the end of primary season we should be diligent in issuing our criticism of political candidates as it is only those who can withstand the strength of our scrutiny that are capable of admirably serving us in whatever political post they do or do not earn.

Zigmund Reichenbach holds a M.A. in Philosophy from West Chester University.  You can find him commenting on news stories of national and state interest at his Facebook page Zigmund Reichenbach -- Commentator or you can follow him on Twitter @zreichenbach1.  To support the creation of articles like these visit our Patreon here.