George took his message on the road today and decided to see if it would play in Peoria. It's believed that phrase came about during the vaudeville era and is attributed to Groucho Marx. Peoria, Illinois was the known litmus test among comics in the 1920's and then resurrected by another POTUS--can you guess which one?
Yes, none other than Richard Milhous Nixon used the phrase while campaigning in the Midwest. Peoria, Illinois was seen as the center of the country's population then (since moving south and west) and fairly diverse in ethnicity, income, age, education, etc. So the thought was if it played in Peoria it was safe to take to the rest of the country.
So, George took his message to Peoria, Illinois today visiting Catepillar's East Peoria campus. He lauded Catepillar's teamwork attitude and said, "what's good for one is good for all" of course that comment lead me to remember something he touted at the State of the Union speech. He wants us all to cut our oil consumption by 20%. Hhhmm..wondering how much oil was consumed in that little jaunt to Illinois' heartland? Equally, I wonder how that 34 year old single mother who had her Catepillar cap signed is going to do cutting her oil consumption. Maybe Catepillar will let her work from home 2 days a week...except that she's an assembly line worker. To her credit, she told the Peoria Journal Star that she "hadn't supported him politically"
So was this little visit representative of the nations like or dislike for the President and his policies? Well, how would we know because once again he spoke only in front of a hand picked audience. I'm not so sure that's what Groucho had in mind when he coined that phrase!! So why did he choose Peoria. Perhaps because he knew that back in June 1973, Nixon still found some love among the heartland even when the rest of the country was shouting obscenities and perhaps because:
"In Peoria, people are warm-and-friendly, happy-go-lucky, care-free individuals.
"Yes, he's almost Nixonesque in his poll ratings. But the town coined the phrase, 'If it plays in Peoria.' It's conservative, a bastian for Republicanism," said Paul Green, a political science professor at Roosevelt University in Chicago.
"And as anyone knows, it's a lot better going to Peoria than Baghdad."
you don't say.