# Voting for/nominating a candidate with an unelectable-sounding name **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 10, 2018, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-for-nominating-a-candidate-with-an-unelectable-sounding-name/825898 "2018-12-10T17:40:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-for-nominating-a-candidate-with-an-unelectable-sounding-name/825898/21 "2018-12-11T00:30:14Z")
> [@Covfefe](#): > > So my intuition would be Kirsten Gillibrand is a less ideal name than John Hickenlooper and the somewhat unusual variant of her first name probably doesn’t help, at least in some regions. Mainly because it’s a female name. ---
**Author:** ![Dacien](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dacien/32/5663_2.png) [@Dacien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dacien)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-for-nominating-a-candidate-with-an-unelectable-sounding-name/825898/22 "2018-12-11T04:47:49Z")
I think there might be something to this. At a very base level, people like things to be appealing. “Trump”, “Clinton”, “Bush”, or “Obama”, it’s very short and to the point. “Huckabee” on the other hand, or “Klobuchar”, or “Dukakis”, these present unique challenges. In fact, that’s probably why Dukakis lost. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-for-nominating-a-candidate-with-an-unelectable-sounding-name/825898/23 "2018-12-11T22:42:53Z")
Schicklgruber has my vote. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-for-nominating-a-candidate-with-an-unelectable-sounding-name/825898/24 "2018-12-11T22:48:56Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > People voted for Boaty McBoatFace. Not for public office, but still. He won the popular vote, but didn’t win the election; the electors chose a different candidate. Man, that sounds familiar… ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-for-nominating-a-candidate-with-an-unelectable-sounding-name/825898/25 "2018-12-11T22:58:12Z")
[Raja Krishnamoorthi](https://krishnamoorthi.house.gov/) is the U.S. Representative for Illinois’s 8th District (western and northwestern suburbs of Chicago). He won the office in 2016, after a couple of earlier, unsuccessful bids for office. In his campaign ads, he’s made playful nods to how difficult his surname is to spell or pronounce, and says, “Just call me Raja.” ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-for-nominating-a-candidate-with-an-unelectable-sounding-name/825898/26 "2018-12-11T23:23:47Z")
We had a guy named Lucer, running for county clerk ( or something) and guess what? He was a ‘loser’. A guy named Bob Smith won. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-for-nominating-a-candidate-with-an-unelectable-sounding-name/825898/27 "2018-12-11T23:49:53Z")
I mentioned something similar in a thread about Hickenlooper. All it takes is Trump constantly making fun of his name. His base won’t change. Dem voters might think, “Oh, man. After that embarrassment, we can’t POSSIBLY afford to have a president with a name like that!” My Mom, many of her relatives, many of my friends parents thought Dukakis was WAAAAAY too foreign sounding for a US President. AND he was too short for the position. Of course, these people are in their 80s. Now _I_ don’t vote on last names, no. I certainly didn’t vote for Hillary because of her last name. But if you want the Dem base to feel confident, find a liberal US veteran who believes in equal rights, strict gun laws, progressive in stopping global warming and make sure his name is John Dwight Smith, or something close. And yes, I said “his” because the way we are right now tells me we’re not ready for a woman in the White House. (And I was convinced in 2016 it was the right time. Silly me.) ---
**Author:** ![Dacien](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dacien/32/5663_2.png) [@Dacien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dacien)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-for-nominating-a-candidate-with-an-unelectable-sounding-name/825898/28 "2018-12-11T23:54:52Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > [Raja Krishnamoorthi](https://krishnamoorthi.house.gov/) is the U.S. Representative for Illinois’s 8th District (western and northwestern suburbs of Chicago). He won the office in 2016, after a couple of earlier, unsuccessful bids for office. > > In his campaign ads, he’s made playful nods to how difficult his surname is to spell or pronounce, and says, “Just call me Raja.” Bobby Jindal had it figured out. How can you not vote for Bobby!? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2018, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-for-nominating-a-candidate-with-an-unelectable-sounding-name/825898/29 "2018-12-12T00:04:28Z")
> [@](#): > > Dem voters might think, “Oh, man. After that embarrassment, we can’t POSSIBLY afford to have a president with a name like that!” After what embarrassment? It’s not like it’s embarrassing to get made fun of by Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2018, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-for-nominating-a-candidate-with-an-unelectable-sounding-name/825898/30 "2018-12-12T00:25:28Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > After what embarrassment? It’s not like it’s embarrassing to get made fun of by Trump. The embarrassment of even ONE American thinking he’d be good at politics. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2018, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-for-nominating-a-candidate-with-an-unelectable-sounding-name/825898/31 "2018-12-12T00:44:00Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > “My baby’s name WILL be a revolution. It will push people to question everything. Why name your baby boring and over-used names like Joshua, Brian, Sam, Nick, Mark, Bella, Marina, etc… when you can name it something special. > > “Squire Sebastian Senator will live a powerful, wholesome life. His confidence will not dimish simply because his name is out of the ordinary. Instead, he will be extraordinary. F\*\*\* you all. Fake a\*\* family. You won’t get to be part of my baby’s life and it’s all because you had to judge him.” “Squire Sebastian” doesn’t seem all that odd. Is “Senator” the surname? Is that the problem? ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2018, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-for-nominating-a-candidate-with-an-unelectable-sounding-name/825898/32 "2018-12-12T07:05:05Z")
I have made the observation before that there are no complicated names when it comes to US Presidents. That is not to say that there cannot be a President Stavridis, just that to date the names have followed a pattern of being Anglo-Saxon and/or simple, strong sounding names. Obama fits the pattern because it’s easy to say and has the word bomb in it. Trump does not deserve the name because to this point a trump card is not the one you saved in case you needed something to wipe your ass with but he still fits the pattern regardless. Someday there may be a President Queefenfart but until then it’s going to be Smith, Brown, Jones, Baker, etc. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2018, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-for-nominating-a-candidate-with-an-unelectable-sounding-name/825898/33 "2018-12-12T07:48:20Z")
Poppycock. The names Eisenhower, Roosevelt, Garfield, Coolidge, and Buchanan seem normal to you because they’re in your past. Van Buren doesn’t sound overly foreign for the same reason. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2018, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-for-nominating-a-candidate-with-an-unelectable-sounding-name/825898/34 "2018-12-12T15:04:59Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > “Squire Sebastian” doesn’t seem all that odd. Is “Senator” the surname? Is that the problem? His first name is “Squire Sebastian Senator.” All of it. No nicknames allowed. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2018, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-for-nominating-a-candidate-with-an-unelectable-sounding-name/825898/35 "2018-12-12T16:14:17Z")
I suppose that “Eisenhower” sounds strong if you know what it means… but how many Americans know what it means? And honestly, most Americans probably don’t even know that there was ever a president named “van Buren”. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-for-nominating-a-candidate-with-an-unelectable-sounding-name/825898/36 "2018-12-13T06:16:54Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > Someday there may be a President Queefenfart but until then it’s going to be Smith, Brown, Jones, Baker, etc. This is such a strange claim. Unless I’m forgetting someone, and I don’t think I am, there have never been US Presidents named Smith, Brown, Jones, nor Baker; nor Miller, Williams, Martin (as a last name), nor Scott. I think there was one popular but unsuccessful Presidential candidate named Smith, and a White House Chief of Staff named Baker. Those are sort of close to the Presidency, I guess? There _have_ been two presidents named Harrison, a couple of Johnsons, a Wilson, two Adamses, a Jackson, a Tyler, a Taylor, a Carter, and a Ford. Those seem like pretty “normal” English names. But no Joneses. I think it does help to have a reputation already. In some alternate world, Jimmy Washington would just be a guy whose name sounded a bit like “washing done.” But George Washington was much of why the USA even existed. Five-star general Ike Eisenhower and former NY mayor and man of adventure T. Roosevelt already had reputations, maybe even myths, when they became part of national campaigns. But absent such a reputation, does a “Jimmy Carter” really have a better shot than an “Englebert Humperdinck” or “John Hickenlooper”? I don’t see that one does. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-for-nominating-a-candidate-with-an-unelectable-sounding-name/825898/37 "2018-12-13T06:24:42Z")
I suspect that if there are more politicians with common names, it’s just because there are more potential candidates in the class they come from, and more persons generally, with common names. If much of the ruling class had names like St. John Marjoribanks or Moxie Crimefighter Hopeless-Savage, we’d probably see many pols with names like that! ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-for-nominating-a-candidate-with-an-unelectable-sounding-name/825898/38 "2018-12-13T18:19:55Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > I suspect that if there are more politicians with common names, it’s just because there are more potential candidates in the class they come from, and more persons generally, with common names. Yes, common names are common. 😃 Someone named Murkowski won a Senate election _as a write-in candidate_. Names really don’t matter. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-for-nominating-a-candidate-with-an-unelectable-sounding-name/825898/39 "2018-12-13T23:47:06Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > “Englebert Humperdinck” Which is a self-chosen name, which goes to demonstrating your point: Having a memorable name is an asset. You can’t gin up any recognition, positive or negative, if people don’t remember you to begin with. (For the record, he was born [Arnold George Dorsey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engelbert_Humperdinck_(singer)).) [There are multiple people with the surname Hogg who are or were in politics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hogg_(surname)) even aside from James Hogg, who’s in politics as an activist. Scroll down to the **Politics and Government** section to see people who _won elections_ with that surname on the ballot, possibly even multiple times over. My point is, if a name is good enough to serve you in everyday life, it’s good enough to win an election with. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-for-nominating-a-candidate-with-an-unelectable-sounding-name/825898/40 "2018-12-14T11:49:07Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > He won the popular vote, but didn’t win the election; the electors chose a different candidate. Man, that sounds familiar… Fucking _robbed_. :mad: Boaty McBoatface is an awesome name for a boat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-for-nominating-a-candidate-with-an-unelectable-sounding-name/825898.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-for-nominating-a-candidate-with-an-unelectable-sounding-name/825898.md?page=3)