Political rhetoric has certainly evolved since John Kennedy’s 1961 counsel to “ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”
In his State of the Union addresses, Obama has consistently argued that someone or other “deserved” something good from Washington. Every candidate in 2016, Democrat and Republication, has deployed “deserve” as a part of their campaign hyperbole.
The D-word took some time to arrive as a political cliché. First it got a thorough workout on Madison Avenue. The first corporation to tell a mass audience it deserved a good thing was McDonald’s. Its “You Deserve a Break Today” campaign began in 1971. At almost the same time, L’Oreal began selling hair dye to women “Because I’m Worth It.”
In 2006, pollster and communication guru Frank Luntz coached Republican candidate clients to use “right to expect” in their campaigns but they balked, saying the phrase conveyed welfare-like entitlement that wouldn’t play well with conservative voters. So Luntz recommended the equivalent “deserve,” which allowed more room for interpretation, and it caught on.
It will take sacrifice, preferably shared, to solve the country’s long-term deficit and many other structural problems. Leaders, Democratic or Republican, who constantly tell their constituents, in effect, “ask what your country can do for you” are not preparing them for that.