COMMENTARY | President Barack Obama's "Hope and Change" slogan was an effective election tool even though his administration has been a failure. Obama's new slogan is causing quite a bit of head shaking and smirking in the conservative realm.
Obama's new "Forward!" slogan is also a term of conviction long used by Marxists to bolster their goal to defeat capitalism, according to the Washington Times. Either Obama's campaign team is too inept to grasp the public relations problems associated with the term or the president is satisfied with the connection to socialism.
President Obama floated several possible slogan ideas during televised speeches over the past several months. Although the phrases that focused on garnering a fair shot or an economy built to last uttered at the microphone were empty rhetoric, at least the words did not have a connection to socialism. Forward is an innocent word when used conversationally, but when embraced as a slogan it leads to further speculation about how far left Obama is willing to bend America.
Perhaps President Obama took a cue from his fan club at MSNBC where the slogan, "Lean Forward" is predominately featured during broadcasts. The Washington Times reports "Forward" has been used as the title of numerous communist publications during the past two centuries. It is doubtful all the political experts on Obama's campaign team simply missed the long-standing reference to socialism.
The socialist slogan will prompt a rehashing into President Obama's past and sketchy associations with radical individuals. If President Obama is not attempting to solidify his ultra-liberal base with the "Forward!" slogan, the lapse in wording judgment will come back to haunt him with months of accusatory headlines.
As noted in the Washington Times, self-described communist and former green jobs czar Van Jones is among Obama's more controversial inner-circle of friends. The president's old pal surely knew the double-meaning associated with the word and could have advised him that troubled waters loomed ahead if the term was used during the campaign.
The email command would be a lame slogan even if it did not once again link the current White House occupant to an anti-American way of life. Such a bland slogan is more than a bit out of character for the charismatic orator. If "Forward!" becomes too controversial to retain as a slogan, Obama could shift to using "Onward" or "Upward" and stick with a directional theme.