Michael Giberson
Irish bookmaker Paddy Power is taking bets on which cliché President Obama will utter first in tonight’s State of the Union Address. The favorite is “We have more work to do,” at 8-to-1, but I like “Don’t get me wrong” at 20-to-1. (HT to MR.)
Given that energy issues are reported to be a main theme of the speech, I wondered which energy-related cliché would come up first. Here are some possibilities:
- homegrown energy sources
- America’s energy future
- clean energy economy
- rising prices at the pump
- dangers of our oil dependence
- secure our energy future
- clean-burning natural gas
- fuel-efficient cars and trucks of tomorrow
- [any reference to Secretary of Energy Steven Chu’s Nobel Prize]
- …?
What else?
What about “clean energy jobs”?
The first energy mention: “A future where we’re in control of our own energy…”
I’d say it doesn’t quite match any of the above, putting it in #10 I suppose, though it could be considered a less cliched version of #1.
Same for the next several energy mentions: American energy, American-made energy, American energy again ….