“Grit” is the new “Gravitas”
“Grit” is the new “Gravitas”. It is a word being bandied about by politicos and pundits all at once that was not particularly used before. I remember in 2000 when everyone started using the word “gravitas” — a description of what George W Bush needed in a vice presidency and then a description of Dick Cheney. Where did that word come from? Was it in deep storage until it was plucked out and thrown into our word usage?
Yesterday Hillary Clinton, in that fabled “Unity, New Hampshire” where the two candidates received an equal contrived number of votes, praised Barack Obama for his grit. This was after Barack Obama, weeks ago, praised Hillary Clinton for her Grit. As the primary campaign hurdled on and Hillary Clinton won a bunch of late states to “keep her in the race”, pundits made comments about her new-found grit. It will be interesting to see in November if the winning presidential candidate praises the losing presidential candidate for his grit, and then in January to see if the magnanimous new president in his first presidential speech praises George W Bush for his grit, and also if Bush comments on the new president’s Grit.