reform Used 9 times this week by the people NPR is following

Analysis

'Reform': The Buzzword For Everybody

October 25, 2010 With one week to go before Election Day, it's pretty clear that barring some huge surprise it will be "jobs", "deficit", "taxes" and other words related to the state of the economy that end up dominating the Fighting Words project.

But there are other ways to slice and dice our results, of course. One is to drill down a bit to see how different types of words are being used. And, when it comes to "buzzwords" that can be used in several ways, right now "reform" is leading in number of mentions.

How's it being deployed?

There are the I'm-a-real-reformer stylings of candidates such as Ted Strickland, the Democratic governor of Ohio. "Humbled to read this letter today," his campaign tweeted on Monday. "Our work to reform education crosses party lines."

Or maybe you prefer the approach of Illinois Republican state Sen. Bill Brady, who's running for governor in his state. "As a state representative and senator for 15 years, Brady has been talking about pensions reforms, Medicaid changes and regulatory relief long before starting his run for governor," the Brady campaign said Monday.

Candidates can also turn the word back on their opponents. "Word comes today that Fannie Mae and and Freddie Mac, the two 'government-sponsored entities' that not only played a big role in the mortgage meltdown but also contributed big bucks to Sen. Patty Murray, will get more taxpayer-funded bailouts in the future," says the GOP for Senate candidate in Washington, Dino Rossi. "Sen. Murray has been touting the so-called 'financial reform' bill she supported as a crackdown."

And they can just keep it simple. "I have the independence to fix our schools and make real reforms," says Meg Whitman, the Republican candidate for governor in California.

Reform. Expect to hear a lot more about it before Election Day is over.

-- Mark Memmott