Bill Clinton is Hillary's not-so-secret weapon
鈥淣ot-so-secret weapon.鈥�聽A twist on the stock political clich茅 that still allows politicians, reporters and observers to refer to something powerful that a candidate may have up his or her sleeve.
鈥淪ecret weapon鈥� is still common, of course, but long past its prime, particularly when referring to a candidate鈥檚 husband or wife. As veteran journalist Rick Dunham on the worst political-journalism clich茅s: 鈥淲hy are spouses 鈥榮ecret weapons鈥�? They鈥檙e not secret. And they鈥檙e not weapons. Please retire this sexist, martial metaphor.鈥�
But the war-like state of contemporary politics has made it impossible to banish the 鈥渨eapon鈥� part of the phrase 鈥� witness the popularity of 鈥渨eaponize鈥� that has joined other national-security words such as 鈥渂lowback鈥� and 鈥渇alse flag鈥� in entering civilian discourse. 鈥淣ot-so-secret weapon鈥� can thus be seen as a sort of compromise.
In discussing her plans for the upcoming New Hampshire primary, Hillary Clinton her husband Bill as her 鈥渘ot-so-secret weapon.鈥� Bill Clinton lost in the Granite State during his first presidential race in 1992 鈥� but his strong second-place finish behind Paul Tsongas of neighboring Massachusetts led the then-Arkansas governor to 鈥渢he Comeback Kid.鈥澛�
Other family members who are not so secret, but still who have been recently portrayed as weapons: Texas Sen. Ted Cruz鈥檚 Heidi; Jeb Bush鈥檚 , Barbara Bush; and Donald Trump鈥檚 Ivanka. (Plus, when their husbands were still running, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul鈥檚 , Kelley, and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee鈥檚 , Janet.)
But the not-so-secret usage goes beyond relatives. Politico used it to Florida Sen. Marco Rubio鈥檚 general appeal on the campaign trail, while the conservative blog PowerLine summoned it to to SenatorRubio鈥檚 good looks and skill at connecting with younger voters. In the recent Iowa caucuses, CNN deployed it to refer to the fact that Iowa鈥檚 colleges and not on their winter break as in past elections. And The New York Times pulled it out to connote the Democratic Party鈥檚 to raise money.
Chuck McCutcheon and David Mark鈥檚 latest book, 鈥淒oubletalk: The Language, Code, and Jargon of a Presidential Election,鈥� has . They write their 鈥淪peaking Politics鈥� blog exclusively for Politics Voices.
