Thanks for the Memes

Only two days before the election, so unless there's a massive cluster fuck like there was in 2000, it will all be over soon. Hang in there, people!

One thing I've taken from this election process is learning what a "meme" is. I'm not sure I had ever heard this word until a few years ago, and then I started confusing it with "trope," another word that people on the Internet seem to throw around to make them sound smart.

"Meme: An element of a culture or behavior that may be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, esp. imitation." So, basically, memes are catch-phrases, except now in this era of social media, they are represented visually. The word was coined in 1976 by Richard Dawkins, and if you look at the Wikipedia entry on the word you can make your head hurt reading all the academic ideas behind it.

The memes of this election have been particularly strong. The Etch-a-Sketch, pictured above, burned hot and fast this summer, when Romney's aide referred to it as a metaphor for changing his campaign strategy. For awhile, the toy (I had one when I was a kid) zoomed in sales.  Romney traveling to Canada with a dog strapped to his car has provided a more slow burning but consistent meme, with several cartoonists making hay with that over the years.

The debates really started the meme machine. Romney's mention of Big Bird in the first debate had wags working hard, incorporating Big Bird into funny pictures. My favorite was a picture of Osama Bin Laden's head on a plate for Obama, while Romney had the big yellow canary's head on his platter.

Then came "binders of women," Romney's half-ass and incorrect claim that he is all for women's rights in the workplace. Again, Facebook became flooded with jokes and cartoons based on the topic, and it became a popular Halloween costume--women wearing a huge binder around themselves.

The third debate briefly made "horses and bayonets" and the board game Battleship a meme, but it didn't seem to stick as well as the other two debate memes.

A few memes were pointed at Obama, such as "You didn't build that," but he didn't seem to suffer as much from foot-in-mouth disease like Romney did, and Romney was not able to zing him effectively.

Other things that seem unique to this election is the absolute hatred of anyone who appears to be some kind of detriment or turncoat. Chris Christie takes heat for praising Obama's response to Hurricane Sandy. A soup kitchen in Ohio loses donations after pointing out the hollowness of Paul Ryan's publicity stunt of washing already clean dishes. A pizza shop owner loses business after giving Obama a hug. All of these mentioned are examples of petulant vitriol by the right wing, but I'm sure there are those from the left. But it has been the right that has also challenged poll results, unemployment numbers, and suggested that there is rampant voter fraud. It's a kind of mind set that seems to think that this election is going to be stolen, and they are preparing their kind for some kind of "Obama's second term is illegitimate."

I do think Obama will win, but it's no sure thing. Nate Silver (who has received attacks from the right, one of them indicating his data is unreliable because he is not "manly") has Obama at an over 80 percent favorite right now. What's intriguingly possible is that Romney could win the popular vote, but Obama the electoral college. The irony of this would be too delicious for words. The right, which watched the left go through torture in 2000, would howl and call for the demise of the electoral college. Then Jon Stewart would play clips from 2000, when Fox News called the electoral college a good thing, because it aided their cause.

As fun as that would be, I would prefer Obama win both aspects of the election, just so we wouldn't have to hear the word "illegitimate" for four years. He won't have both houses of congress, so things will still be tough enough.