The Death of "If"

[hisownpetard]

It wasn't that long ago that candidates for high political office listed the miraculous feats
they would try to accomplish, if they were elected to the office they were seeking.

"If" was a good word back then.

Somewhere along the line, some PR guy or powerful pollster must have come out with the theory that "if"
is too tentative, not persuasive enough. The voters must not be given the option of thinking that the candidate's
NOT being elected is even a possibility. And that's when the word "if" was deleted from the Candidates' Thesaurus and
replaced with the more forceful and forward-thinking "when."

So we are given the spectacle of 7 or 8 intelligent adults standing on a platform, each grasping the sides of their podium
with white knuckles and speaking into the microphone in as confident a voice as they can muster, saying "WHEN I am inaugurated in January 2008."
and "WHEN I am President of the United States," and "When my administration is in power..."

Is there a reality-deficit going on? Surely they must realize, as they all insist on "when" instead of "if,' that it will not be possible for all of them
to actually be elected President of the United States. I mean, it only makes sense, right? Which means that, as they stand there in their nicely pressed
clothes and hair-sprayed do's, all but one of them is lying, right to our face. LYING, because not ALL of them will be inaugurated.

I submit that candidates should look back to the time when being elected to public office was considered an honor invested by the people
in the candidate. It was something they sought to achieve, through our good graces. And, only IF they earned our respect and trust and
our vote would they then have the right to say, "When I am the next President of the United States..."

If only that kind of humility still existed, perhaps the public servants would actually try to serve the public once in a while. I will keep this
thought in mind when I cast my vote, if next November comes.

[gulliver]

1. Good post!

It grates on me to hear "when" too. To an extent, it is part of the game, like when an athlete talks trash. But I notice that sports comments by athletes are getting more and more humble. All-star wrestling still has the bravado/kabuki, but real professional athletes seem to go out of their way to be modest these days. Maybe it is time for politicians to try to do the same. But if a politician made that when/if shift, they would have to do it really well and trust the voters to take it right.

[hisownpetard]

2. Thanks. It's just one of the things that politicians do these days that annoys

the hell out of me. How stupid do they think we are, that a concentrated use of the word "when"
will make us see them as presidential.

They should concentrate more on the issues and less on little verbal tricks that they think will
get them elected!:hi:

[hisownpetard]

3. I'm kicking myself...

:kick: :shrug: