- Rout
yeah, yeah...we get it. Candidate 1 won over candidate 2 by an embarrassingly large margin. Sure, 'rout' sounds cool, with it's strong monosyllabic punch not unlike a dog's bark, but can't the punditry get creative? Obama clobbered Hillary in GA. Hillary gave Obama a drubbing in MA. Obama vanquished Hillary in DC. etc etc
- Superdelegate
Not only is the concept dumb, so is the word used to describe these super duper folks who's single vote equals a gazillion mere mortal votes. I loathe them like so much powdered wig aristocracy. You know they lay in bed at night and smile knowing they have been bestowed with a 'super' prefix. Smug jerks, all.
- Outlier
Bellybuttons, anyone? My 2 year old has a wicked outlier. I should re-name him Zogby.
- Capitulate
Okay, this word is more of a holdover from the pre-primary dkos days, and more often applied to Congress than anything else, but I am still totally sick of it. I think it's one of those words that people feel smart using because it's sort of longish.
- Stump
The whole 'stump' thing is strange. I'm sure the word is infused with historical meaning going back to the days of our would-be pols standing on stumps to deliver campaign speeches to groups of lumberjacks (or something), but it all just strikes me as weird. If I didn't know what it meant, and someone told me 'Hillary is stumping in Cleveland' it would be difficult for me not to imagine this as being some sort of low-to-the-ground type of calisthenic exercise. Like squats.
- Day One
Oh boy, I sort of half-hope whoever wins the election sleeps late, sits on the couch and watches daytime TV in his or her jammies while eating Kraft mac & cheese right out of the pot on Day One. That would show us!
- My Friends
Actually, McCain's Tourette's-like use of 'My Friends' is the single most interesting thing out of his mouth at any given time. The man is a walking Drinking Game. I put it on this list because I predict that around September his overuse of 'My Friends' will eventually morph from amusing to rage-inducing.
- (tie) Hope. Experience. Mills.
If the top 3 Dems' stump speeches could be boiled down to a single word, these would be them. Y'all know which goes with which, I don't have to tell you. Can I ever look upon a mill again without thinking, wistfully, about you-know-who?
- Change
File under 'duh'. Although I am an Obama supporter and fully understand the need for the 'change' message on some levels, I also think this word is nearly meaningless is it's general application by ALL the candidates so far. EVERYBODY is an agent for change. EVERYBODY is changier than the other guy for some reason or another (see 'Hope, Experience, Mills'). EVERYBODY is changier than GWB, even the Republicans.
- Firewall
Gah! I hate this one. It's tailor made for hyperbolic usage. "Maine was supposed to be Hillary's FIREWALL!! Wha happened?!!? O THE FAILURE!" I am convinced people around here (and the punditry) use it only in advance of what they think will be a massive loss...in other words, nobody uses it when they actually think a certain state is a firewall. You would never hear a Hillary supporter say, without irony, that a particular state is her firewall. Nay, if someone is throwing this word around they are anticipating great failure.
So, what did I forget here?