Politics
I notice that Arnold Schwarzenegger’s nickname has changed. When he first was elected, he was The Governator, a cute little nickname meant to reference his Terminator role in the movies. It was usually said with an accent, something to pick a little at his Austrian heritage. “Oh, ya, da Gahvahnatah!”
Sometime in the last two years, however, that faded off, and now he’s “Arnie.” And I’m not hearing as many jokes about the accent now. Now it’s more biting, sneering remarks about his supposed links with Nazis. I am not deeply invested in his career, so I don’t lead or steer such conversations. I merely note that the joking has faded and people are taking him more seriously, for better or for worse.
It makes me wonder what sort of nickname our next president will have. Bush has been called Dubya for so long I’ve almost forgotten what his name really is. I remember Clinton being referred to (not with affection) as Billory, a reference to his “two for the price of one” wife, and spelled, not by accident, to resemble pillory.
If Hillary is elected, whatever nicknames she has now will change. I’m sure of that. She has a few already, Shrillery, Hitlery, that sort of thing. But as her persona comes into focus as president, new nicknames will arise. And they can’t be prescribed. Molly Ivins tried dubbing Bush “Shrub” in her ill-predicted book about his “short political life.” He outlived her, as it turned out, and is Dubya. So if Hillary wins, her nickname will have to be organic, as such things are.
If Rudy Guliani is elected, that’ll be interesting, because Rudy already sounds like a nickname. No one will be content to let that stand, however. Some of the other contenders have much more promise as far as naming goes. I mean, come on… Mitt? Barack? Huckabee? This should be interesting.
