Speaking Politics phrase of the week: 'A new generation of leadership'
鈥淎 new generation of leadership鈥�:听An assertive, yet overused, catchphrase that younger candidates invoke to associate themselves with new ideas and fresh thinking.听
Accepting the Democratic presidential nomination in 1960, John F. Kennedy 鈥渁 change, a slippage鈥� in the country鈥檚 intellectual and moral fiber. 鈥淭oo many Americans have lost their way, their will and their sense of historic purpose,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t is a time, in short, for a new generation of leadership 鈥� new men to cope with new problems and new opportunities.鈥澨�
If you substitute 鈥減eople鈥� for 鈥渕en,鈥� that sentiment hasn鈥檛 aged one bit. So it鈥檚 remained in continuous use.听
Back in 2008, Kennedy鈥檚 brother, the late Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy, in endorsing Barack Obama. Before becoming House Speaker, Paul Ryan joined Reps. Kevin McCarthy and Eric Cantor in the 2010 book 鈥淵oung Guns: A New Generation of Conservative Leaders.鈥澨�
More recently, 鈥渘ew generation of leadership鈥� was the theme of and unsuccessful campaigns. (In Canada, Justin Trudeau had with it in becoming prime minister.) Independent conservative candidate Evan McMullin is now .
In these remaining campaign weeks, countless other candidates of both parties who are in their 20s, 30s, and 40s also are frequently invoking it. They include Massachusetts Democratic Rep. New York GOP Rep. , Louisiana Democratic Senate candidate Missouri Democratic Senate candidate North Carolina House Democratic candidate and Maine Democratic state Rep. 听
The Nexis database turns up 408 mentions of the phrase between January and mid-October 鈥� almost 100 more than the same period four years ago.听
Why is it so popular? It鈥檚 鈥渁 succinct way to highlight differences between political insiders and outsiders, people who have been around for a long time and haven鈥檛 managed to solve the pressing problems of the day and those who could bring a fresh perspective to governing,鈥� said American University political scientist Jennifer Lawless, co-author of a on why more young people aren鈥檛 entering politics.
鈥淚t鈥檚 also an implicit way to call attention to youthful energy and juxtapose it to more of the same.鈥� she said. 鈥淲hile the phrase is clich茅, it鈥檚 hard to figure out a more efficient phrase to make the same point.鈥澨�
Erec Smith, a professor of rhetoric and composition at York College of Pennsylvania, agreed that the expression is a handy way to tap into the public demand for something potentially transformative.
鈥� 鈥楢 new generation鈥� is one that will redefine politics in a way that, presumably, will fix the flaws of the current generation,鈥� Prof. Smith said. 鈥淭his plays on the tropes of hope and heroism that, like fear, are tried and true motivators for change.鈥澨�
Chuck McCutcheon writes his 鈥淪peaking Politics鈥� blog exclusively for Politics Voices.
Interested in decoding what candidates are saying? Pick up Chuck McCutcheon and David Mark鈥檚 latest book, 鈥淒oubletalk: The Language, Code, and Jargon of a Presidential Election."
