Today I continue Part 2 of the analysis of metaphors from the first Democratic debate. Last time I described some of the more unusual conceptual metaphors, this time I will explain a few of the more common metaphors from nature, body position, physical forces and journeys.

As I did last time, the examples are taken directly from the transcript of the debate. The quotations are cited according to the candidates: Hillary Clinton (HC), Bernie Sanders (BS), Martin O’Malley (MO), Jim Webb (JW), or Lincoln Chafee (LC). Some quotations are also from the CNN commentators Anderson Cooper (AC) or Juan Carlos Lopez (JCL). Italics are mine.

Nature

Lincoln Chafee provided the most obvious example of the evening, describing himself as a block of granite, comparing his allegiance to his political party to one of the hardest known rocks on earth. Other metaphors include examples from farming, e.g., sowing the seeds of unrest, or being rooted in values.   The idea of strawman gun purchasers, those who buy firearms for someone who is not legally allowed to do so, is derived from the idea of a scarecrow that is not a real person. The power of nature is also described metaphorically in the phrases of cascading threats and windfall profits, while the inability to make progress in a government programs is compared to a marsh or quagmire, in which one can be bogged down. The inability to control government programs is compared to the power of animals as something that is running amok or a horse that must be reined in.

block of granite

Example: “Anderson, you’re looking at a block of granite when it comes to the issues. Whether it’s…” (LC)

COOPER: “It seems like pretty soft granite. I mean, you’ve been a Republican, you’ve been an independent.” (AC)

sowing the seeds of unrest

Example: “The current top prosecutor in Baltimore, also a Democrat, blames your zero tolerance policies for sowing the seeds of unrest.” (HC speaking to MO)

rooted in values

Example: “So I have a long history of getting things done, rooted in the same values…” (HC)

straw man purchasers

Example: “And I think we’ve got to move aggressively at the federal level in dealing with the straw man purchasers.” (BS)

cascading threats

Example: “I believe that nuclear Iran remains the biggest threat, along with the threat of ISIL; climate change, of course, makes cascading threats even more (inaudible).” (MO)

windfall profits

Example: “And let me just go back a minute and say that on this TARP program, I introduced a piece of legislation calling for a windfall profits tax on the executives of any of these companies that got more than $5 billion, that it was time for them, once they got their compensation and their bonus, to split the rest of the money they made with the nurses and the truck drivers and the soldiers who bailed them out.” (JW)

quagmire

Example: “Well, let’s understand that when we talk about Syria, you’re talking about a quagmire in a quagmire.” (BS)

bogged down

Example: “But I think when Russians get killed in Syria and when he [Putin] gets bogged down, I think the Russian people are going to give him a message that maybe they should come home, maybe they should start working with the United States to rectify the situation now.” (BS)

 

 

 

rein in/run amok

Example: “We are the United States of America. And it’s our job to rein in the excesses of capitalism so that it doesn’t run amok and doesn’t cause the kind of inequities we’re seeing in our economic system.” (HC)

 

Body Position

            Metaphors based on the human body are very common in politics, especially those comparing actions to positions of the body.   These examples include standing up to bullying or the NRA, still standing instead of falling down in a fight, or standing still instead of running or making progress in an endeavor. We can also say that we won’t back down to a fight. In a different sense of body movement, one can be metaphorically paralyzed if there is no action taking place or have a backbone to do something brave be an essential part of a larger system. On a smaller scale, we can describe important information falling into the wrong hands, or all the wealth held by a handful of billionaires. 

stand up to his bullying

Example: “There’s no doubt that when Putin came back in and said he was going to be President, that did change the relationship. We have to stand up to his bullying, and specifically in Syria, it is important — and I applaud the administration because they are engaged in talks right now with the Russians to make it clear that they’ve got to be part of the solution to try to end that bloody conflict.” (HC) 

stood up against the NRA

Example: “I think that we have to look at the fact that we lose 90 people a day from gun violence. This has gone on too long and it’s time the entire country stood up against the NRA.” (HC) 

back down

Example: “And we did it by leading with principle, not by pandering to the NRA and backing down to the NRA.” (MO) 

I am still standing

Example: “I am still standing. I am happy to be part of this debate.” (HC) 

standing but not running

Example: “That Great Recession, 9 million people lost their jobs, 5 million lost their homes, $13 trillion in wealth disappeared. And although we’ve made progress, we’re standing but not running the way America needs to.” (HC) 

paralyzed

Example: “We should not be paralyzed — we should not be paralyzed by the Republicans and their constant refrain, “big government this, big government that,” that except for what they want to impose on the American people.” (HC)

 

backbone

Example: “So what we need to do is support small and medium-sized businesses, the backbone of our economy, but we have to make sure that every family in this country gets a fair shake…” (BS) 

handful of billionaires

Example: “What this campaign is about is whether we can mobilize our people to take back our government from a handful of billionaires and create the vibrant democracy we know we can and should have.” (BS)

wrong hands

Example: “I think it has to be continued threat from the spread of nuclear weapons, nuclear material that can fall into the wrong hands. I know the terrorists are constantly seeking it, and that’s why we have to stay vigilant, but also united around the world to prevent that.” (HC)

 

Physical Forces

We can also describe people’s behavior in terms of strong physical forces. Thus we have examples of outside forces tearing or ripping the country apart, while millions of jobs are wiped out and we have crushing debt and a broken criminal justice system. We can also have people turning out for voting, violence exploding and a middle class that is shrinking or collapsing. We can have extreme physical forces such as someone being hit by a train, or railroaded, or someone doing a delicate action such as threading a tough needle.  

tear our country apart

Example: “For there is a — deep injustice, an economic injustice that threatens to tear our country apart, and it will not solve itself. Injustice does not solve itself.” (MO)

rip it apart

Example: “We have to prevent the Republicans from ripping it [the Dodd-Frank bill] apart.” (HC)

wiped out millions of jobs

Example: “Secretary Clinton mentioned my support eight years ago. And Secretary, I was proud to support you eight years ago, but something happened in between, and that is, Anderson, a Wall Street crash that wiped out millions of jobs and millions of savings for families.” (MO)

crushing debt

Example: “Our economy isn’t money, it’s people. It’s all of our people, and so we must invest in our country, and the potential of our kids to make college a debt free option for all of our families, instead of settling our kids with a lifetime of crushing debt.”(MO)

broken criminal justice system

Example: “We need to combat institutional racism from top to bottom, and we need major, major reforms in a broken criminal justice system…” (BS) 

turnouts

Example: “We are bringing out huge turnouts, and creating excitement all over this country.” (BS)

exploded in violence

Example: “Governor O’Malley, the concern of voters about you is that you tout our record as Baltimore’s mayor. As we all know, we all saw it. That city exploded in riots and violence in April.” (AC)

middle class is shrinking

Example: “What I’m talking about is this, our middle class is shrinking. Our poor families are becoming poorer, and 70 percent of us are earning the same, or less than we were 12 years ago.” (MO)

middle class is collapsing

Example: “The middle class — Anderson, and let me say something about the media, as well. I go around the country, talk to a whole lot of people. Middle class in this country is collapsing.” (BS)

railroaded

Example: “But the reason why people remain angry about it is because people feel like a lot of our legislators got railroaded in a war fever and by polls.” (MO)

thread a tough needle

Example: “I think the president is trying very hard to thread a tough needle here, and that is to support those people who are against Assad, against ISIS, without getting us on the ground there…” (BS)

Journey

Finally, we had several examples of journey metaphors in the debate that are common in political speeches. Metaphorical journeys are often compared to walking or taking steps. People making progress in an endeavor are compared to soldiers marching together so that a person not being a part of the group is considered out of step.   Others taking the lead in a situation are described as taking a step forward. The first step may require walking out of one’s house, so starting a new journey may be described as standing on the threshold. While beginning a journey may be described as taking the right route as in being a path to citizenship.

Movement forward is always desired while going backwards or having reversals is deemed counterproductive. Going backwards may also be compared to a car turning the state around. Controlling a situation is compared to driving a car while taking a back seat indicates not being in control or in the lead of a movement. We can also put forward specific plans, move forward, or move our country forward while making progress is compared to leading in a car race, being behind instead of ahead or getting ahead and staying ahead. 

out of step

Example: “Given that nearly half the Democratic Party is non-white, aren’t you out of step with where the Democratic Party is now?” (AC to JW) 

want to step forward

Example: “That distress of communities, where communities don’t want to step forward and say who killed a 3-year-old, it’s a direct result of these failed policies.” (AC) 

stand on the threshold

Example: “I truly believe that we are standing on the threshold of a new era of American progress.” (MO)

path toward citizenship

Example: “My view right now — and always has been — is that when you have 11 million undocumented people in this country, we need comprehensive immigration reform, we need a path toward citizenship, we need to take people out of the shadows.” (BS)

reversals

Example: “…right before this debate, Secretary Clinton’s campaign put out a lot of reversals on positions on Keystone and many other things. But one of them that we still have a great difference on, Madam Secretary, is that you are not for Glass-Steagall.” (AC) 

turn the state around

Example: “I know how to turn around a state because I did as governor of Rhode Island.” (LC)

back seat

Example: “And I don’t take a back seat to anyone when it comes to progressive experience and progressive commitment.” (HC) 

put forward specific plans

Example: “I’ve traveled across our country over the last months listening and learning, and I’ve put forward specific plans about how we’re going to create more good-paying jobs: by investing in infrastructure and clean energy, by making it possible once again to invest in science and research, and taking the opportunity posed by climate change to grow our economy.” (HC)

go forward

Example: “And if you think — if you think that we can simply go forward and pass something tomorrow without bringing people together, you are sorely mistaken.” (BS)

move our country forward

Example: “What you heard instead on this stage tonight was an honest search for the answers that will move our country forward, to move us to a 100 percent clean electric energy grid by 2050, to take the actions that we have always taken as Americans so that we can actually attack injustice in our country, employ more of our people, rebuild our cities and towns, educate our children at higher and better levels, and include more of our people in the economic, social, and political life of our country.” (MO)

behind instead of ahead

Example: “But I know, if we don’t come in with a very tough and comprehensive approach, like the plan I’m recommending, we’re going to be behind instead of ahead…” (HC)

get ahead and stay ahead

Example: “My mission as president will be to raise incomes for hard-working middle-class families and to make sure that we get back to the basic bargain I was raised with: If you work hard and you do your part, you should be able to get ahead and stay ahead.” (HC)

 

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In sum, this Democratic debate provided some very rich examples of common political metaphors.  These examples illustrate once more how ubiquitous conceptual metaphors are in American politics.

Next time:  TBA