I have often been struck with the degree that ridicule and sarcasm can affect one's perception of political candidates and parties. The effect, if done "correctly" is to make the target appear callow, feckless, hypocritical, or ineffective. Vice President Biden did this to great effect in his debate with Candidate Ryan. Several of his lines such as "Can you believe these guys", delivered in a semi-sneer, hit the mark and drew blood.
Now Robert Gibbs has made an immense contribution to our political lexicon. Here is what he said (h/t to TPM):
"Let's figure out what happened, okay" he said on CNN's "State of the Union." "But you know what, we don't need wingtip cowboys. We don't need shoot from the hip diplomacy."
This hits the mark in two ways: we already had the image of "cowboys" as being reckless foreign policy adventurers (q.v. "Bush went cowboy"). Now he has added "wingtip" to that, making the entire phrase even more demeaning, a la "armchair warriors" or "chickenhawk".
Thanks, Robert. That was brilliant!