I, Me Me, Mine

Matt Welch | September 25, 2003

Number of times the gubernatorial candidates used the words "I, me, my, mine, myself" during their closing statements of last night's debate (unofficial count):

Cruz Bustamente: 7
Arianna Huffington: 9
Peter Camejo: 10
Tom McClintock: 13
Arnold Schwarzenegger: 31

Comments

Madog|9.25.03 @ 1:05AM|#

I'm not quite sure what we're supposed to infer from that, but it is interesting none the less.

Steve Smith|9.25.03 @ 1:07AM|#

A.S. also deserves credit for being the only one of the debaters last night to refer to himself in the third person, a la Rickey Henderson.

Tim Cavanaugh|9.25.03 @ 1:07AM|#

I presume that Matt has read his Marguerite Duras, and thus knows the important distinctions among "je," "me," "moi," etc. A candidate who favors the accusative or the dative case, we can surmise, will be a wallflower, an object, a wimp who prefers to be "acted upon." A candidate who favors the nominative, on the other hand, will be a man (or woman) of action, an existentialist who's always the "subject" of attention.

So more info, please: Was Arnold talking "I" or "me"?

Anyway, all that matters is that two stood against many, and if you won't hear my prayer, then the hell with you!

Russ D|9.25.03 @ 1:11AM|#

Some more word-counting fun:

Child/kids:
Arnie 9
Huffington 7
Bustamante 6
McClintock 3

Society:
Huffington 6
Camejo 2
McClintock 1

Insure/Safe:
Huffington 6
Bustamante 5
Arnie 4
Camejo 2

Unintelligible:
Arnie 8
Huffington 6
McClintock 2
Camejo 1
Bustamante 1

Russ D|9.25.03 @ 1:32AM|#

A couple more:

School/education:
Arnie 14
Bustamante 14
Huffington 11
Camejo 6
McClintock 3

Bureaucracy:
McClintock 5
(no one else said it)

|9.25.03 @ 1:54AM|#

All cool data, but what about the context??? Context is important. Remember, in Russia, a Conservative refers to a Communist.

|9.25.03 @ 2:41AM|#

I think our data might be skewed by the inclusion of non native speakers ...

Ty Webb|9.25.03 @ 2:47AM|#

Jeff:

This isn't Russia, Is this Russia? No, the thing is do you want to go to college...

Arnold S.|9.25.03 @ 2:49AM|#

Let me tell you something, I will drive my Hummer through this message board!

|9.25.03 @ 3:02AM|#

McClintock actually referred to himself in the third person, too. Something about "people who know Tom McClintock know he stands up for his beliefs, blah blah blah"

PLC|9.25.03 @ 3:09AM|#

Anyone who refers to themselves in the third person should automatically be disqualified from seeking office of any sort.

Andy|9.25.03 @ 3:11AM|#

Andy agrees with PLC.

PLC|9.25.03 @ 3:13AM|#

PLC would never associate with those who refer to themselves in the third person. PLC finds this highly annoying.

PLC also hates the excess use of TLAs.

(three letter acronyms)

|9.25.03 @ 3:40AM|#

Steve Smith - reminds me of the Bob Dole impersonation that SNL used to do. It was pretty hilarious when Dole eventually went on SNL and said, "You've got Bob Dole speaking about Bob Dole in the third person. Let me tell you, that's just not something Bob Dole does!"

Classic...

|9.25.03 @ 3:40AM|#

In Soviet Russia, Hummer drives through you!

|9.25.03 @ 3:48AM|#

'In Soviet Russia, Hummer drives through you!'

Less the Hummer, more the Zil.

Franklin Harris|9.25.03 @ 4:04AM|#

Bob Dole agrees with Andy.

Warren|9.25.03 @ 4:12AM|#

doot doot doodle dedda doot doot doo doot

Homer Simpson|9.25.03 @ 4:46AM|#

That's it, you people stood in my way long enough! I'm going to clown college!

David|9.25.03 @ 9:19AM|#

"I don't think any of us expected that..." - marge

Wacowski Kat Gloor|9.10.04 @ 1:39AM|#

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DATE: 01/20/2004 12:27:08
You know what's interesting about Washington? It's the kind of place where second-guessing has become second nature.