“Politics is more difficult than physics.”

Physicist Albert Einstein once said, “Politics is more difficult than physics.” Maybe he would have felt more comforted if he knew that members of the Kherson library Talk Lab English Club were eager and willing to apply their common sense to the mysteries of political science.
In a spirited discussion, the 39 Talk Lab participants on Sunday, Nov. 13, shared their knowledge in comparing and contrasting several aspects of American and Ukrainian election systems. The members also learned about some of the famous and colorful campaign slogans of candidates who ran for president of the United States.
For example, Abraham Lincoln’s winning slogan in 1864 was “Don’t swap horses in the middle of the stream,” which advised voters not to change presidents during the Civil War.
Calvin Coolidge’s successful campaign of 1924 played upon his name with the slogan, “Keep cool with Coolidge.” In 1928, Herbert Hoover was elected with the promise, “A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage.”
But the Great Depression of the 1930s took its political toll on Hoover as Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated the incumbent president with a campaign that included the slogan, “Hoover we trusted, now we’re busted.”
Some candidates have used literary devices, such as alliteration or simple rhymes, when they ran for office – and with widely varying results. Wendell Willkie’s 1940 slogan, “We Want Willkie,” was big on the “W” sound but unsuccessful at the ballot box. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s slogan capitalized on his nickname with “I like Ike,” as he swept to victory in 1952.
Richard Nixon won with the simple “Four more years.” And Ronald Reagan advanced this winning concept in 1980 with his “Are you better off than you were four years ago?”
Bill Clinton tapped into a popular song with the slogan, “Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow,” as he won the presidential election of 1992. And Barack Obama stirred the imagination of many young voters as he swept to victory in 2008 with “Yes we can!”
So, with such slogans in mind, Talk Lab members went about crafting their own political mottoes – all in fun.  The results included the humorous “If you fee naughty, vote for our party,” the civic-minded “Be active. Now, today, tomorrow,” and the nuts-and-bolts slogan that reminds serious voters to look beyond slogans, “Not words – actions!”
In America, this November’s round of relatively minor elections were seen as somewhat as a warm-up for the big one of November 2012 when United States citizens again vote for president. More photos.