Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Decline of the political nickname

Politics in North Carolina is a little paler and a little less interesting today with news of the death of yet another politico with a colorful nickname. T.G. “Sonny Boy” Joyner of Garysburg in Northhampton County died at age 87 after a long career as a mainstay of Democratic party polices in the state. His father had been in the state Senate and Sonny Boy was a farmer, a county commissioner, town mayor, member of the state Democratic Executive Committee and a delegate to the 1964 Democratic National Convention. He served various posts under Govs. Terry Sanford, Bob Scott and Jim Hunt. And he was a Yellow Dog Democrat – so called because he’d even vote for a Yellow Dog, the saying went, as long as the dog was a Democrat.
Joyner’s death is another reminder of the decline of the distinctive, down-home nickname in state politics. Once the ranks of politicos was well-represented with absolutely memorable monikers – U.S. Rep. Wilmer “Vinegar Bend” Mizell, state Sen. J.J. “Monk” Harrington, and gubernatorial candidate Hargrove “Skipper” Bowles and Rep. Paul “Jaybird” McCrary, a former Davidson County sheriff.
One of my favorites was V.B. “Hawk” Johnson, who never ran for office but who advised a great many politicians who did during his 75 years as a World War II machine gunner, newsman, congressional aide, lobbyist and soapbox philosopher.
Whatever happened to nicknames, anyway? The used to permeate sports, too. Charlie “Choo-Choo” Justice and Clarence “Big House” Gaines and Dick “Night Train” Lane surely brightened the sports pages. And don't forget Jim "Catfish" Hunter. Or "Meadowlark" Lemon.
Sign of the times, I suppose.
What would be good political nicknames for those in public life today?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Future Convict" would fit most of 'em if we're lucky.

Anonymous said...

Louisiana was always ripe for nicknames. One of my favorites from the early 90s was a longtime legislator named Raymond "LaLa" Lalonde (sp?)

Anonymous said...

I am so happy to get some kal geons and the kal gold is given by my close friend who tells me that the kal online geons is the basis to enter into the game. Therefore, I should kal online gold with the spare money and I gain some kalonline Geons from other players.