Quantcast
Skip to content
Communities
  • North Fork
    • Jamesport
    • Mattituck
    • Orient
    • Riverhead
    • Shelter Island
    • Southold
  • The Hamptons
    • Montauk
    • Quogue
    • Sag Harbor
    • Sagaponack
    • Southampton
    • Water Mill
    • Westhampton Beach
  • NYC
  • Palm Beach
  • Home Pros
  • Digital Editions
  • Dan’s Best of the Best
  • Contact Us
  • RegisterLogin
Dan’s Papers
  • Things to Do

    Events Calendar

    View and Post Events

    • Books & Authors
    • Community
    • Events & Entertainment
    • Fairs & Festivals
    • Film & TV
    • Fitness & Outdoors
    • Food & Drink
    • Galleries & Museums
    • Kids & Families
    • LGBTQ+
    • Nonprofits & Philanthropy
    • Performing Arts
    • Pets & Animals
    • Seasonal
    • Shopping
    • Virtual

    Dan’s Events

    Visit Dan’s Taste

  • Arts & Culture
    • Artist Profiles
    • Books & Authors
    • Galleries & Museums
    • Performing Arts
    • Music, Film & TV
  • Food & Drink
    • Recipes
    • Restaurants
    • Bars, Breweries & Distilleries
    • Wine & Wineries
  • Celebrity News
  • Local News
    • Crime & Police
    • Politics
    • Health
    • Business
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Obituaries
  • Real Estate
  • Lifestyle
    • Fashion & Style
    • Hotels & Inns
    • Kids & Family
    • Nonprofits & Philanthropy
    • Party & Event Photos
    • Wellness
    • Dan Rattiner’s Stories
Dan Rattiner’s Stories

Name The President: Mitt, Newt, Barack

By Dan Rattiner
3 minute 02/07/2012 Share

Have you noticed this? Not one of the three men running at this time for President next year has a normal first name. Indeed, they don’t even have abnormal names. They have names that have been given to them that are completely unique.
Newt is a sort of worm or grub, I think. Something that a principal might send your kid home from school for if he found one in your kid’s hair.
Mitt is something to hold things with. It could be an oven mitt or a catcher’s mitt or any other baseball player’s mitt. Also, in winter, it’s a nickname for mittens.
Barack I thought might mean something in an African language, so I tried a few translation programs online and all of them said there was no translation to English. Barack apparently is just some sound made by his mother or father at his birth there in Hawaii–or by a parrot at that moment. Anyway it stuck.
I cannot recall any time in our history that candidates running for President were named after a grub, a glove or who knows what? Maybe there’s something to it. I don’t know. We’re going through these hard times. Maybe we just need somebody with a unique name like this since all the regular ones don’t get us anywhere.
Maybe we could enduce a few other people to join the fray. Beyonce. Demi. JLo. There needs to be a woman in this mix with a strange name. Paris? Well, how about Bing? Today half the population knows him as a search engine. But the other half knows him as a singer popular in the 1940s.
I think, other than the fact that he is deceased, or maybe because of it, Bing Crosby could give Newt and Mitt a real run for his money. After all, a human named after a search engine might possibly be the most intelligent candidate of them all.
Who I would really like to see join the Republican fray is Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey. His first name is not unique. And I know he’s reluctant to run. But I do think we could tag him with a seriously odd name if he’d let us. Right, Fatso?

  • Vetted Hamptons Resources

    Hamptons Classified 

    Access our trusted network of local professionals and browse employment opportunities in the Hamptons.
    Find a Home Pro Search Jobs
  • Most Recent Articles

    Robert Schenkkan's Bob & Jean: A Love Story hits the stage in Sag Harbor soon

    Notes from a Playwright: Robert Schenkkan on ‘Bob & Jean, A Love Story’

    TF255865

    4 Signs of Potential Electrical Hazards in a Home

    Katie Lee is hosting Dan's Rosé Soirée 2025 Presented By Wilmington Trust

    Katie Lee to Host Rose Soiree – The Kickoff to Summer & Dan’s Taste Series

    Bridgehampton, Wall Street

    Bridgehampton Oceanfront Estate From “Wall Street” Sold

  • Things to do on the East End

    More local events

    Vines, Views & Velos: An Electric Ride Through Wine Country’s Finest

    East End Bike Tours
    Tomorrow, 10 am

    From Barrel to Bottle: A Guided Brewery & Vineyard Bike Tour Experience

    East End Bike Tours
    Tomorrow, 10 am

    Here & There: The Church’s First Churchennial

    The Church
    Tomorrow, 11 am

    Custom House in Sag Harbor Open for Tours Saturdays & Sundays through October 12

    Custom House Sag Harbor
    Tomorrow, 11 am

    Fitzhugh Karol: On the Grounds

    Arts Center at Duck Creek
    Tomorrow, 2 pm

    Chowdah Chowdown 2025 – benefiting Springs Food Pantry

    Springs Tavern and Grill
    Oct 11, noon
    Dan’s Papers

    The iconic mainstay of Long Island’s East End for over 60 years.

    Read Our Papers

    Digital Editions of Dan's Papers are available online.
    Get our best stories right into your inbox. Subscribe
    Follow us
    © Dan’s Papers 2025 Schneps Media |
    Designed by Digital Silk
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy

    Post an Event