Beyond The Commons

Aaron Wherry covers all the goings-on in and around Parliament Hill. Follow Aaron on Twitter: @aaronwherry

Categories: Beyond The Commons, Capital Read

My friends

by Aaron Wherry on Tuesday, September 8, 2009 1:24am - 10 Comments

Whatever the merits of Mr. Ignatieff’s current stump speech, his advisors should be worried about the emergence of a particular two-word phrase that surely ranks among the least effective vocal tics in recent rhetorical history.

Tags: John McCain, Michael Ignatieff

More by Aaron Wherry

http://intensedebate.com/people/SeanStok SeanStok

It's right up there with: "Thank you for asking me that question…" (It seems to be a requirement for any and all debates, town halls, etc., these days).
http://intensedebate.com/people/Jack_Mitchell Jack Mitchell

There's no way to characterise your audience like a robot without ticking them off.
http://intensedebate.com/people/WernerPatels WernerPatels

Good catch, Aaron. Indeed, Iggy is already a marked man…
dan in van

I doubt that. McCain was trying to run away from and distance himself from a lying liar and his lying record. Harper's own verbal tic could just as likely be the makings of a 'marked man' as Perner Watels so dubiously noted…
http://intensedebate.com/people/PhilCP PhilCP

You're just hoping that the phrase is not effective, and that the handlers/advisers will quickly substitute a less annoying phrase.

I fear that the phrase is actually quite successful, and that we will be stuck with it for quite a while. Then, when the phrase finally begins to lose its effectiveness it will be replaced with something that annoys y'all even more.

It's going to be about appearing to be authentic for quite a few years to come.
http://intensedebate.com/people/Stewart_Smith Stewart_Smith

"appearing to be authentic" … we need a catchy word for that

Dave

It could do double duty as a one-word substitute for "faking an orgasm".

Jenn

I'd just like to point out that McCain was using it at a debate with Obama–everyone in the room was not his friend. Ignatieff was using it at a Liberal gathering, surrounded by his friends. Also, the number of times McCain used it in that clip, vs. the number of times Ignatieff used it may have affected my perception. I realize the McCain clip was a montage of the number of times he said it, without any substance in between, but man, good thing it wasn't the cue to drink!

http://intensedebate.com/people/Stewart_Smith Stewart_Smith

McCain (verb)
To chug ones drink at a political event, rally or speech. Typically triggered by a pre-arranged verbal cue from the speaker.
Thought to have been introduced by Jenn MacBlog as a strategy to introduce young adults to politics, although original motivation is in some dispute.
http://intensedebate.com/people/Tidewaters Chrystal Ocean

Iggy has been using 'my friends' for some time and not just when Libs were present. Thought it was only me who'd noticed.

Given that I watched McCain et. al. in horrible, stomach-churning fascination throughout the GOP nomination campaigns, I felt a visceral 'eeewww' on hearing Iggy use the phrase.