Sunday, July 27, 2008

Political vernacular: Obama-esque

Over time ex-Presidents have entered regular vernacular as their names have become nouns capturing their famed characteristics.

Richard Nixon
Nixonian, or "Nixonite" is a term used to refer to Republicans who, rather than being conservative, tend to promote high domestic spending and an active regulatory regime, along with an aggressive foreign policy.
Read the full 'Nixonian' definition in Wikipedia

Bill Clinton
"Clintonian" has also carried the connotation of verbal craftiness, usually in a political or legal context, intended to deceive or obscure the truth.
Read the full definition of 'Clintonian' from Wikipedia

Other presidential descriptors include the complimentary 'Reaganesque' and the unflattering 'Bushist'

Whilst Obama is no certainty to occupy the White House his impact to culture has been further stamped by a noun bearing his name - 'Obamaesque'. Though it's definition is still organically growing, wrestling commentator Mick Foley employed it on a recent episode of WWE's Smackdown and was met with a rightfully curious response.
Mick Foley: I think some of his speech, his lectures about personal responsibility was positively Obama-esque, was it not?
Jim Ross: I don't even know what the heck Obama-esque is?...
Watch Mick Foley using the term Obama-esque
skip to the 6:53 mark to hear the quote

Watch the events that commentator Mick Foley refers to as being Obamaesque: MVP lecturing Jeff Hardy

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