It occurred to me as I drove away from a lovely affair this evening, that you, my readers, the few, the proud, the brave, had not been “pastiched” in a while. It’s been a hot minute since I wrote a post on this, my new website. And part of the point of it is, after all, to be a record of my experiences in local politics. And so I write!
Christiana Mercer Rigby is running to represent District 3 on the Howard County Council. She had a fundraiser tonight at The Kings Contrivance Restaurant. It was a lovely affair–yummy food and a great turnout. It’s quite a joint, this restaurant–dimly lit, serving delicious food, and in an old mansion that’s apparently been there since before Columbia existed.
Christiana made me think of my favorite thing, that which became the seed that grew into the idea for this website: fun with campaign slogans. She said to me once that sometimes people read her name as “Christian Rugby.” We had a good laugh about it, and I said she should make it her campaign slogan. It includes two American favorites: religion and sports!
Related: See what a local Democratic icon told me about her past.
I began posting silly, fun campaign slogans I thought of on my Facebook wall for HoCo Dems. That’s what made me decide to have a place to write musings about local politics using my love of words and language in a journal format. That’s this website, so here goes.
The first name I did this for was “Jeremy Eldridge”–the one that started it all–was that of my good friend who ran for Democratic Central Committee and won.
- Marriott’s Ridge for Jeremy Eldridge.
- Hickory Ridge for Jeremy Eldridge.
- Eldersburg for Jeremy Eldridge.
- Elkridge for Jeremy Eldridge.
Then there was Ward Morrow, who ran for Judge of the Orphan’s Court.
- Move forward with Ward Morrow.
- Tomorrow is only a day away with Ward Morrow.
- Ward Morrow: Looking forward.
There was Guy Guzzone, who is and is running for State Senator in District 13:
- A reception called, “Calzone With Guy Guzzone,” which I joked should replace his annual pizza party.
- A reception called, “Rigatoni With Guy Guzzone.”
- A reception called, “Cheese and Macaroni With Guy Guzzone.”
- Ok…you get the idea.
And: A limerick on a friend and HoCo Dem.
There was Jen Terrasa, who’s on the County Council and is running for State Delegate in District 13, too.
- A fundraiser titled, “Polska Kielbasa With Jen Terrasa.”
Despite all the words that rhyme with Ball, Calvin Ball, who’s on the County Council and running for County Executive, was harder than I anticipated to come up with slogans for.
- A phone banking event named, “Call for Calvin Ball.”
- “Calvin Ball: He Sure Is Tall.”
- An event named, “5k Walk at the Columbia Mall With Calvin Ball.”
- A promotional item:” The Calvin Ball Shawl.”
And of course, I’d be beyond remiss if I didn’t memtion the Scott Berkowitz catchphrases I thought of. He’s another person who ran for and is now on Democratic Central Committee.
- Scott Berkowitz: He’ll win at a Battle of the Witz.
- A hamburger-based reception: “Berk-ers With Scott Berkowitz.”
- A brunch where grits are served: “Homestyle Gritz With Scott Berkowitz.”
Sorry, but this is my idea of fun! I got interested in the formal study of the tropes and figures of language, of which rhyme and assonance, used in the slogans above are two, of course, as a student of rhetoric in my undergraduate years in college. The kind of rhetoric I got my Master’s in later was rather different, and I’m almost glad, because it expanded my academic horizons to study different kinds of rhetoric than the more old-fashioned, traditional Classical/Medieval/Renaissance rhetoric that I was first and foremost a student of. I can–and do, including on this here website–explore my love of this brand of rhetorical pursuit still. So all’s well that ends well. Or maybe, “Calvin Ball’s Well That Ends Well”?
I’m grateful for your readership! Check back with me each week here at politicalpoetrypastiche as my linguistic, literary, and generally loquacious involvement in local politics takes on a mélange of prose and poetry genres. After all: All Politics Is HoCo-al™. Join me on Facebook here, find me on Twitter at @politicalpoetr3, and follow me on Instagram using the handle @politicalpoetrypastiche.