President Obama’s “D” and “R” Analogy

President Obama has been getting a lot of mileage in campaign appearances with his automobile analogy about Bush administration policies driving the country into a ditch. He talks about "D" standing for Democrats and driving the country forward and "R" representing Republicans and going backward. The problem with this analogy is that cars have a reverse gear for a reason, and sometimes it's useful for getting out of trouble.

Steve Huntley, “Obama Needs to Get in Gear with Public”, Chicago Sun Times, August 10. 2010

For politicians analogies are a wonderful thing. You can use them to ridicule and to sting. But when your campaign is headed downhill, and your analogies are full of ill will, it may be useful to remember,that come November, voters may switch from “D” to “R” gear, hoping out of the ditch to steer. They will decide if it is an "R" or "D" ditch, and which is which.