Campaign and political slogans, the notable quotes to win elections

 

    

Political slogans

• Abolish the wages system – A slogan used by the SPGB and the WSM as well as many anarchists and communists including the IWW. It is a paraphrase of the quote by Karl Marx; "take off your banners the reactionary slogan a fair day's pay for a fair day's work and instead inscribe upon your banner the revolutionary watchword; the abolition of the wages system" Karl Marx, Value, Price and Profit.
• A dollar a day, roast beef, and the Chinese must go. – Dennis Kearney
• All power to the Soviets (Вся власть – Советам!) – A Bolshevik slogan in the eve of the October revolution.
• All Power to the Imagination! – Situationist slogan used during May 1968 in Paris; a détournement of the slogan "All Power to the Soviets" used during the Russian October Revolution.
• Arbeit Macht Frei – Used 1933-45 by Nazi Germany over the main gates at a number of Nazi concentration camps. In English, the slogan means "work will make you free".
• A.B.U. – Stands for Anything But Umno or in Malay Asalkan Bukan Umno is a rallying cry of the opposition in Malaysia against the political party United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which controls the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional, which has been in control of Malaysia since independence in 1957.
• Are you thinking what we're thinking? – British Conservative Party slogan under Michael Howard in the 2005 general election
• "A weak economy, underfunded schools and an NHS that costs more and delivers less" – Slogan by Kirsty Williams and the Welsh Liberal Democrats during the National Assembly for Wales election, 2011, outlining the failures of the Labour and Plaid Cymru government in Wales.^[1]
• Britain Deserves Better – British Labour Party slogan and manifesto title for the 1997 General Election. The slogan was matched by the use of D:Ream's Things can only get better as the campaign song.
• Behindertsein ist schön (To be disabled is beautiful) was the political slogan of the (West) Germany disability movement in the 1970s, 1980s (cripple movement- Krüppelbewegung)), used analogously to the political slogan Black is beautiful.
• Better dead than Red – An anti-Communist slogan.
• Better war than Pact, better dead than slave (Bolje rat nego pakt, bolje grob nego rob) – An anti-fascist slogan after the overthrow of the Yugoslav government that signed the Tripartite Pact.
• Bigger cages! Longer chains! – Anarchist slogan mocking use of the political demand.
• Black is beautiful is a political slogan of a cultural movement that began in the United States of America in the 1960s by African Americans.
• Black Power is a political slogan and a name for various associated ideologies.
• Bread and roses – labor and immigrant rights slogan.
• Catch up and overtake America! (Догнать и перегнать Америку) – Slogan invented by Nikita Khrushchev in 1957 for his vision of the Soviet economy
• Come and take it – Slogan at the Battle of Gonzales
• Deeds Not Words – W.S.P.U. suffragette slogan, 1903.
• Democracia Real Ya! – (Real Democracy Now!) Used in the 2011 Spanish protests
• Deus, Patria, e Familia – Salazar reactionary slogan
• Doctors need to be preserved, not reserved. – Slogan used by medical students, doctors, and lawyers in India when they protested in New Delhi against the raised quotas for lower-caste students medical colleges from 22.5 to 49.5%.
• Don't let him take Britain back to the 1980s – 2010 Labour poster attacking Conservative leader, David Cameron.
• Don’t Stop, Keep Going On! – The general electoral slogan of the Justice and Development Party in the Turkish general elections of 2007
• Each for all and all for each – Tariff Reform League, 1905.
• Eat the Rich – A leftist slogan originally traced back to Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who is reputed to have said "When the people shall have nothing more to eat, they will eat the rich."
• Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer ("One people, one empire, one leader") – Nazi Germany.
• Ena Ena Tessera – Greek, late 1960s, early 70s. Means One One Four, the number of the constitution that says the King may not interfere with the workings of government.
• England Will Fight to the Last American – Slogan of the America First Committee, against providing aid to Britain during WWII^[2]
• Every Man a King – 1934 Introduced in February 1934, during a radio broadcast, this was the wealth and income redistributionist platform slogan (and later a song and a book) for Louisiana Governor Huey Long; it was part of a broader program which had the slogan, "Share Our Wealth".
• Everything Within the State, Nothing Outside the State – Early 1930s Italian Fascist slogan.
• Fifty-Four Forty or Fight – Oregon boundary dispute, 1846, Democrats claim all of Oregon Country for the United States.
• Führer befiehl, wir folgen dir! (Führer command, we'll follow you!), from the song "Von Finnland bis zum Schwarzen Meer"
• God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve – Anti-gay slogan used by Christians who oppose homosexuality on religious grounds.
• Got Guv – A play on the "got milk" campaign; used by dairy owner Jim Oberweis in 2006 during his campaign for Governor of Illinois.
• Go For Growth – Australian Liberal 2007 campaign slogan used by John Howard. The slogan refers to the period of economic growth under his leadership.
• Had enough? – This was the 1946 slogan for Congressional elections for the out-of-power Republican Party; noting that they had been out of power in Congress since 1930, this slogan asked voters if they had "had enough" of the Democrats.
• Hasta la Victoria Siempre (Until the Eternal Victory) – Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara's famous slogan, and how he would end his letters. Its meaning is a promise to always struggle until capitalism and imperialism are defeated everywhere in the globe and an everlasting communist system based on Marxism is implemented.
• He killed my ma, he killed my pa, but I will vote for him. – Charles Taylor's 1997 election slogan. Taylor threatened to restart the country's civil war if he wasn't elected.^[3]
• Heim ins Reich (Back home into the Reich), describing the Adolf Hitler's initiative to include all areas with ethnic Germans into the German Reich (Austria, Sudetenland, Danzig,...) that led to World War II.
• He's Good Enough for Me – Balfour's Conservative poster, 1905.
• Hey, Hey, LBJ, how many kids you kill today? – Anti-Vietnam War and anti-Lyndon B. Johnson slogan from the 1960s. Other variations included, ".. . how many boys did you kill today?"
• "I agree with Nick" – Unofficial Liberal Democrat slogan for the 2010 United Kingdom general election, parodying Gordon Brown's performance in the televised debates where he often ended up espousing the same views as Lib Dem leader, Nick Clegg.
• "If you want a nigger for a neighbour, vote Liberal or Labour" - Slogan for the successful candidacy of Peter Griffiths for Smethwick in the 1964 general election.
• "In Your Heart You Know He's Right"' – Slogan for Barry Goldwater's 1964 American presidential election campaign.
• It's Scotland's oil – Used by the Scottish National Party (SNP) during the 1970s in making their economic case for Scottish independence
• It's Time – Used by the Australian Labor Party in 1972; they had been out of government since 1949.
• Jai Jawan Jai Kisan – Used by the Prime Minister of India Lal Bahadur Shashtri in 1965; It means hail the soldier and hail the farmer.
• Jai Jawan Jai Kisan Jay Vigyan – Used by the former Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Bajpai in 2001; It means hail the soldier, hail the farmer and hail the science.
• Jedem das Seine – Literally, the slogan means "to each his own" and was the German translation of Prussia's motto which read in Latin: "suum cuique". The meaning at that time was "justice for everyone". Used 1937-45 by Nazi Germany over the main gate at Buchenwald concentration camp it figuratively meant "everyone gets what he deserves". The slogan was already used in ancient Roman times by Cicero and Cato.
• Joy Bangla – Slogan used by the people in the Liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971.
• Labour Isn't Working – 1978 Conservative Party poster devised by Saatchi and Saatchi. The poster showed a long queue outside a 'Labour Exchange' commenting on the high levels of unemployment.
• Le Québec aux Québécois Separatist chant. 1970s+
• Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity) – the national motto of France, with its origins in the French Revolution.
• Lips That Touch Liquor Must Never Touch Mine – slogan of the Anti-Saloon League of the US temperance movement
• Ma Mati Manush - popular political slogan coined by Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal, who represented All India Trinamool Congress
• Maggie, Maggie, Maggie – Out, Out, Out – Popular chant used at rallies and marched opposing the government of Margaret Thatcher.
• Make love not war – Against the War in Vietnam.
• Me ne frego! – Slogan used by the Benito Mussolini's blackshirts, literally "I don't give a damn".
• Moving New Hampshire Forward – Slogan used by Maggie Hassan in her 2012 NH gubernatorial campaign.
• Never had it so good – 1957 campaign under Harold Macmillan's leadership of the Tories.
• Never been had so good – 1957 campaign slogan of the British Labour Party (in response to the Tory slogan).
• New Labour, New Danger – Slogan on 1997 Conservative Party campaign poster showing Tony Blair with glowing red eyes. The campaign backfired as the poster was criticised for implying that Blair, a stated Christian, was demonic and then the Conservative Party's failure to state who had authorised the poster.
• Ni dieu, Ni maitre (No God, No Master) – A French anti-religious saying.
• No Surrender! – Pro Northern Irish Loyalist slogan referring to the Siege of Derry
• Not a step back! (Ни шагу назад!) – The motto representing Joseph Stalin's Order No. 227 issued on July 28, 1942. It is famous for its line "Not a step back!", that became a slogan of Soviet antifascist resistance.
• Nothing About Us Without Us! is a slogan used to communicate the idea that no policy should be decided by any representative without the full and direct participation of members the group(s) affected by that policy.
• Now... The Next Steps – Fianna Fáil slogan used during 2007 Irish General Election
• No War but Class War – Used by diverse Marxist groups as a means of underlining the priority of class struggle above other political aims – and as a general anti-militarist slogan.
• Patria o Muerte (Homeland or Death) – A 1960 slogan of Fidel Castro used for the first time at a memorial service for the La Coubre explosion. As a result, it became a motto of the Cuban Revolution.
• Perón o muerte – (Perón or death) Peronist slogan used in Argentina.
• Piss On Pity is a rallying cry for those in the disability-inclusive circles of world politics.
• Power to the people – A frequent anti-establishment slogan used in a variety of contexts by different political groups around the world such as libertarians, socialists and pro-democracy movements.
• Promises Kept – Slogan used by Thomas P. Gordon in 2012 race for New Castle County Executive.
• Rally Around O'Malley – Campaign slogan used during Patrick O'Malley's 2002 Illinois gubernatorial campaign.
• Remember Pearl Harbor – A slogan, a song, an invitation to encourage American patriotism and sacrifice during World War II.
• Remember the Alamo – Battle cry at the Battle of San Jacinto
• Remember the Maine – The rallying cry during the Spanish-American War.
• Revolution is not a dinner party – A phrase by Mao Zedong, extracted from his full statement that "Revolution is not a dinner party, nor an essay, nor a painting, nor a piece of embroidery; it cannot be advanced softly, gradually, carefully, considerately, respectfully, politely, plainly, and modestly. A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which one class overthrows another."
• Safety First – 1929 Conservative election poster.
• Save the Bay – Chesapeake Bay Foundation slogan to save the Chesapeake Bay. Also the name, and main slogan, for Save The Bay, a San Francisco Bay environmental organization
• Serve the People (为人民服务) – a political slogan of Mao Zedong. The slogan later became popular among the New Left, Red Guard Party, and Black Panther Party; due to their strong Maoist influences.
• Simon Go Back – Against the Simon Commission: The Indian Statutory Commission was a group of seven British Members of Parliament that had been dispatched to India in 1927 to study constitutional reform in that colony. It was commonly referred to as the Simon Commission after its chairman, Sir John Simon. Ironically, one of its members was Clement Attlee', who subsequently became the British Prime Minister who would oversee the granting of independence to India and Pakistan in 1947.
• Stanley Baldwin the Man You Can Trust! – 1929 election poster.
• Stay the course – A slogan popularized by the Bush administration as the strategy for the Iraq War
• The Buck Stops Here – A phrase first uttered by Harry S Truman in reference to government accountability.
• The rich get richer and the poor get poorer – Used by Marxist-inspired socialists to criticize capitalism
• They shall not pass (Spanish: ¡No Pasaran!) – used during the Battle of Verdun in World War I by French General Robert Nivelle.
• Three Word Chant! – An Anarchist anti-slogan used in the Battle of Seattle to illustrate the reification of the slogan in mass culture.
• Think globally, act locally or "Think global, act local" has been used in various contexts, including town planning, environment, and business
• Trust Baldwin he will steer you to safety! – 1929 Conservative poster
• Tyler and Texas! – John Tyler's slogan for supporting the annexation of Texas.
• ¡Una, Grande y Libre! – "One, Great and Free!", a Francoist slogan from Spain. It expressed three nationalist concepts; One) indivisible, against regional separatism, Great) in recognition of its imperial past and advocation of future expansion in Africa, Free) not submitted to internationalist foreign influences, which was a reference to what Francoists claimed was a "Judeo-Masonic-International Communist conspiracy" against Spain.^[4]
• Venceremos (we will overcome, We shall Triumph) – A Spanish phrase associated with the Cuban Revolution and socialism in Latin America and unofficial national anthem of Chile during the period leading up to the coup.
• Vote for Change – British Conservative party slogan for the 2010 general election.
• We are the 99% – a solidarity internet meme commonly associated with the 2011 Occupy Wall Street and associated protests.
• Wir sind das Volk (We are the people), motto of the "Monday demonstrations" that led to the demise of the East German State and its inclusion into the West German one.
• Workers of the world, unite! (Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь!) – A communist slogan coined by Karl Marx from The Communist Manifesto.

U.S. presidential campaign slogans (listed chronologically)

• Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too – 1840 U.S. presidential slogan of William Henry Harrison and his Vice President, John Tyler.
• 54° 40′ or Fight – James Polk, 1844. Refers to capturing the “Oregon Territory” from Canada.
• We Polked you in ’44, We shall Pierce you in ’52 – 1852 U.S. presidential campaign slogan of democrat Franklin Pierce; the ’44 referred to the 1844 election of fellow democrat James K. Polk as president.
• Don’t swap horses in midstream – 1864 U.S. presidential campaign slogan of Abraham Lincoln. Also used by George W. Bush, with detractors parodying it as “Don’t change horsemen in mid-apocalypse.” The slogan was also used for comic effect in the film Wag the Dog.
• This is a White Man’s Government! – Horatio Seymour 1868 Democratic Presidential Candidate
• Vote as You Shot – 1868 presidential campaign slogan of Ulysses S. Grant^[2]
• Grant beat Davis – Greeley bailed him – 1872 anti-Horace Greeley and pro-Ulysses S. Grant slogan, which references Jefferson Davis
• Grant us another term – 1872 Ulysses S. Grant presidential re-election campaign slogan
• Tilden or Blood! – 1877 slogan of Samuel Tilden supporters after the election conflict that led to the Compromise of 1877
• Ma, Ma where’s my Pa? – 1884 U.S. presidential slogan used by the James Blaine supporters against his opponent Grover Cleveland, the slogan referred to fact Cleveland had fathered an illegitimate child in 1874. When Cleveland was elected President, his supporters added the line, “Gone to the White House, Ha, Ha, Ha!”
• Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion – U.S. presidential election, 1884, Republicans attack opposition for views against prohibition, membership by Catholic immigrants and southerners.
• Grandfather’s hat fits Ben – 1888 U.S. presidential campaign slogan of Benjamin Harrison, whose grandfather William Henry Harrison was elected U.S. president in 1840.
• Four more years of the full dinner pail – 1900 U.S. presidential slogan of William McKinley
• Full Dinner Pail – William McKinley in 1900
• Let Well Enough Alone – 1900 presidential campaign slogan of William McKinley.
• He kept us out of war – Woodrow Wilson 1916 U.S. Presidential campaign slogan, also “He proved the pen mightier than the sword”
• Keep Cool and Keep Coolidge – The 1924 presidential campaign slogan of Calvin Coolidge.
• Hoo but Hoover? – 1928 U.S. presidential campaign slogan of Herbert Hoover.^[2]
• Hoover we trusted, now we’re busted. – 1932 campaign slogan against incumbent Herbert Hoover.
• I propose (to the American people) a New Deal – 1932 slogan by democratic presidential candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt.
• We are turning the corner – 1932 campaign slogan in the depths of the Great Depression by republican president Herbert Hoover.
• Defeat the New Deal and Its Reckless Spending – 1936 U.S. presidential campaign slogan of Alfred M. Landon^[2]
• Let’s Get Another Deck – 1936 U.S. presidential campaign slogan of Alfred M. Landon^[2]
• Let’s Make It a Landon-Slide – 1936 U.S. presidential campaign slogan of Alfred M. Landon^[2]
• Life, Liberty, and Landon – 1936 U.S. presidential campaign slogan of Alfred M. Landon^[2]
• Remember Hoover! – 1936 U.S. presidential campaign slogan of Franklin D. Roosevelt
• Sunflowers die in November – 1936 U.S. presidential slogan of Franklin D. Roosevelt, reference to his opponent Alf Landon, whose home state of Kansas uses the sunflower as its official state flower, and November to the month when presidential elections in the USA take place.
• No Fourth Term Either – 1940 U.S. presidential campaign slogan of Wendell L. Willkie^[2]
• Roosevelt for Ex-President – 1940 U.S. presidential campaign slogan of Wendell Willkie
• There’s No Indispensable Man – 1940 U.S. presidential campaign slogan of Wendell L. Willkie^[2]
• Washington Wouldn’t, Grant Couldn’t, Roosevelt Shouldn’t – 1940 anti-Franklin D. Roosevelt slogan, referring to Roosevelt running for a third term.
• We Want Willkie – 1940 U.S. presidential campaign slogan of Wendell L. Willkie^[2]
• Give ’Em Hell, Harry! – 1948 U.S. presidential campaign slogan of Harry Truman
• I’m just wild about Harry – 1948 U.S. presidential slogan of Harry S. Truman, taken from a 1921 popular song title written by Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake.
• Pour it on ’em, Harry! – 1948 U.S. presidential campaign slogan of Harry S. Truman
• I like Ike – 1952 U.S presidential campaign slogan of Dwight D. Eisenhower.
• I still like Ike – 1956 U.S presidential campaign slogan of Dwight D. Eisenhower
• Peace and Prosperity – 1956 U.S. presidential campaign slogan of Dwight D. Eisenhower
• In Your Heart, You Know He’s Right – 1964 U.S. presidential campaign slogan of Barry Goldwater
• In Your Guts, You Know He’s Nuts – An unofficial anti-Barry Goldwater slogan, parodying “In Your Heart, You know He’s Right”, 1964.
• Go clean for Gene – 1968 U.S. presidential campaign slogan of Eugene McCarthy
• Don’t Switch Dicks in the Middle of a Screw, Vote Nixon in ’72 – Parody of the old saying used by backers of George McGovern in 1972.
• Bozo and the Pineapple – Uncomplimentary name given to the 1976 U.S. presidential campaign ticket of Gerald Ford and Bob Dole.
• Let’s make America great again – 1980 U.S. presidential campaign slogan of Ronald Reagan
• Morning Again in America – Ronald Reagan Slogan for 1984 Presidential election
• Read my lips – soundbite from the acceptance speech given by George H. W. Bush at the 1988 Republican National Convention.
• It’s Time to Change America – a theme of the 1992 U.S. presidential campaign of Bill Clinton
• It’s The Economy, Stupid. – 1992 presidential campaign of Bill Clinton
• Ross for Boss – a 1992 U.S. presidential campaign slogan of independent presidential candidate H. Ross Perot.
• Yes, America Can! – 2004 U.S. presidential campaign slogan of George W. Bush
• Yes We Can – 2008 U.S. presidential campaign slogan of Barack Obama.
• Change We Can Believe In – 2008 U.S. presidential campaign slogan of Barack Obama.
• Country First – 2008 U.S. presidential campaign slogan of John McCain.
• The Strength and Experience to Bring Real Change – 2008 U.S. presidential campaign slogan of Hillary Clinton
• Forward – 2012 U.S. presidential campaign slogan of Barack Obama
• Believe in America – 2012 U.S. presidential campaign slogan of Mitt Romney

References

1. ^ "Lib Dems focus assembly election campaign on economy". BBC News. 2011-04-05.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Baily, Thomas A.; & Kennedy, David M. (1994). The American Pageant (10th ed.). D.C. Heath and Company. ISBN 0-669-33892-3.
3. ^ Left, Sarah (2003-08-04). "War in Liberia". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2008-01-18.
4. ^ "Una, Grande y Libre – Francoist slogan". Iberianature.com. Retrieved 2009-09-16.