McCain's "Country First" campaign slogan is a bad one. To see why, replace the abstract word country with the concrete thing it refers to: "USA First". It's too nationalistic, whether or not it's intended. Country should not and cannot be "first". The traditional list of priorities, in descending order, was God, family, and then country. This slogan is an awkward inversion of this list. Doesn't anyone on the McCain team realize the impression this slogan can give?
But it is clear that this is not the way the slogan is meant to be interpreted. McCain means by this slogan that, when he goes to Washington, he is not going to serve himself - he is going to put his country first, over and against his personal profit. It has become part of the "theme" of his campaign. Putting aside whether or not campaigns shoudl have a theme, I think we ought to recognize that this is his real intention with the slogan "country first".
But, what we appear to be saying is still important.
3 comments:
If there is a bone to pick with McCain or the McCain campaign, this would not top my list.
am i wrong?
While I can understand the objections, I really believe that the slogan arises in contrast to the so-called "Blame America First" crowd. "We must not be so self-loathing, we do have some good points" is much too long a slogan.
BTW, I have posted a response to your question arising from our comm box discussion on my blog.
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