Speaking Politics term of the week: zinger
Zinger:聽A supposedly spontaneous clever one-liner that has become a leading measuring stick 鈥� to some, the only聽measuring stick 鈥� for success in a debate.
鈥淶inger鈥� is one of many political words originating in the sports world. The Online Etymology Dictionary that in 1957, it was baseball slang for a pitcher鈥檚 fastball that caught unsuspecting hitters off guard. But by 1970, as political discourse became less civil and more confrontational, it turned into a catchy synonym for a barbed quip.
Former President George W. Bush, interviewed for a PBS special about his 2000 face-offs with Al Gore, credited Ronald Reagan with elevating the zinger鈥檚 importance. In one of his 1980 debates with President Jimmy Carter, Reagan drew laughter when he the now-famous 鈥淭here you go again鈥� 鈥� a way of suggesting that Carter was regularly bending the truth.
鈥淭hat became the measure of success to a certain extent 鈥� Unless there is the zinger or the kind of the cute line or whatever, the quotable moment, there鈥檚 no victor in a sense,鈥� Bush said.
Since then, politicians have discovered that zingers are what voters respond to 鈥� much more than actual policies. And news sites have found and that they make for easy listicles.
The late Texas Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D) is best remembered for Republican Dan Quayle in their 1988 vice-presidential debate, 鈥淪enator, you鈥檙e no Jack Kennedy.鈥� Bloomberg News in 2012 that Sen. Bentsen had been fully prepared for his opponent to invoke JFK, having seen numerous transcripts of him making the comparison, and simply waited for the right moment to pounce.聽
In this all-pervasive Twitter age, journalists are constantly on guard against zingers that seem overly scripted. During the Democratic primaries, Bernie Sanders pulled one out on Hillary Clinton when she talked about her plans for when she became president: 鈥淪ecretary Clinton, you鈥檙e not in the White House yet.鈥� Vox called it 鈥渨eird, out-of-place,鈥� while Mediaite that it 鈥渂ackfired.鈥�
And for all of the attention that they draw, political scientists say zingers 鈥� and indeed, debates as a whole 鈥� are not really essential in shifting opinions.聽
鈥淪cholars who have looked most carefully at the data have found that, when it comes to shifting enough votes to decide the outcome of the election, presidential debates have rarely, if ever, mattered,鈥� George Washington University鈥檚 John Sides in 2012.
Professor Sides added, 鈥淎t best, debates provide a 鈥榥udge鈥� in very close elections like 1960, 1980 and 2000.鈥� Given how close this year鈥檚 election appears to be, it鈥檚 hardly surprising that Clinton has been busily rehearsed attack lines 鈥� and that even Trump, known for just winging it, is doing some advance prep.
Chuck McCutcheon writes his 鈥淪peaking Politics鈥� blog exclusively for Politics Voices.
Interested in decoding what candidates are saying? Chuck McCutcheon and David Mark鈥檚 latest book, 鈥淒oubletalk: The Language, Code, and Jargon of a Presidential Election,鈥� is now out.
