Re: the language watch continues

["A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@world.std.com>]

On 5 Sep 2000,  Chuckigo@aol.com wrote:

>    but if i may add, i think Brian was right on the money when he suggested
> (earlier) that it might be more of an incentive to entice a younger demo to
> watch the news to have coverage of our leaders, or those that strive to
> become our leaders, act or react in a manner which many of us have
> more-than-likely done likewise.  

Trouble is, the wrong comment can cost a candidate the election, and as 
long as that is so, most candidates will err on the side of bland.

In one famous incident, in 1948, the Republican candidate, Thomas E. 
Dewey, was giving a speach from a stopped railroad train, a common 
practice in those days, when the train suddenly lurched forward.  Dewey 
said, "What's wrong with that damn engineer?"

This was followed rather quickly with posters in varous parts of the 
country reading, "Damn engineers for Truman."  The cause of Dewey's upset 
defeat is still a mystery, but not a few people attributed it to that 
incident. 


===================================================
 A. Joseph Ross, J.D.                        617.367.0468
 15 Court Square                     lawyer@world.std.com
 Boston, MA 02108-2503      http://world.std.com/~lawyer/
===================================================