Thursday 10 March 2016

Linger with Laura

It's election season at the university: the students are voting for their union officers for next year. This means that the campus is covered in scruffy handwritten cardboard signs in support of one candidate or another. There are some common themes.

Some are old-fashioned and simply go with this format:
[Name] for President
Many, however, have chosen an alliterative slogan which functions as an exhortative speech act:
Rely on Ruth
Stand with Stuart
Make it Millie
And one candidate had instead chosen a (near) rhyme and an alliterative nickname:
Only Sam can / Super Sam
She has a superman outfit to campaign in as well.

I don't know if these things go in fads, or what. The most effective signs by far (in my opinion) didn't have any of these gimmicks, but had the same logo (a green pharmacy-style cross) and the candidate's name and one of her sensible policies, a different one on each poster, clearly written. The others don't put their policies on their signs, apparently assuming the alliteration will be enough.

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