The Transition to “Oh, THAT Guy.”

     Imagine Wednesday morning, November 7^th, and Mitt Romney will desperately want to hide under the covers once the final numbers tell the tale. When many are sitting down to coffee and corn flakes, Mr. Romney will dine on a cold, slightly lumpy bowl of defeat. So begins his metamorphosis from candidate of the moment into “Oh, THAT guy” or OTG. Once elections have passed, defeated candidates usually fade from the public consciousness to be remembered by most not as Governor Smith or Senator Jones, but only as “that guy” who lost.  Imagine future conversations you may have about this election, as people try to remember exactly the unsuccessful candidate you are referring to, there will usually come that moment of clarity where someone remembers and says, “Oh, THAT guy.”
    An example? Two guys are in the pub; Bob says to Fred, “This reminds me of that Texas billionaire who ran as an independent years ago.” Fred looks confused, “Who?” “Oh, you remember, the little short guy with the nasally voice,” Bob says, “What was his name; was it Perot?” To which Fred replies, “Oh, THAT guy!”

The primary season is particularly good at assigning candidates to OTG status. Remember all of those household names from just a year ago? Jon Huntsman and Herman Cain? Rick Santorum, and Buddy Roemer? Surely you must remember good old Tim Pawlenty? No? I kinda thought you wouldn’t. Often people don’t immediately recognize a losing candidate’s name without a prompt. Just imagine this conversation for an example: you ask, “Hey James, do you remember Rick Perry?” I ask, “Who?” “You know, Perry was the Governor of Texas who ran for President last year, right?” “Oh, THAT guy,” comes my reply. See how it works?

Yes, the examples of OTG abound, from Dewitt Clinton and Rufus King in the nineteenth century right up to Michael Dukakis and Bob Dole in the late twentieth century. Tomorrow morning, there will be another name to add to your OTG list. Try this simple exercise: You say, “Remember Mitt Romney?”  “Who,” I ask.  “The guy beaten by Obama back in 2012.” (Everyone join in with me...) “Oh, THAT guy.” See, feels natural, doesn’t it?