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Presidential candidates over the last decade, including the ones running this year, have seemingly shifted from being known on a last-name basis to a first-name basis. Examples include Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, and Jeb Bush.
Is there a reason that they'd do this as opposed to using the family last name like Obama, Lincoln, Kennedy, etc.?
Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush share their last names with past presidents, so the media has referred to them by their first names more than their last names for a while now. This is not uncommon or unusual.
Bernie Sanders' campaign slogan is "Feel the 'Bern". And for us, Bernie is more distinctive than Sanders anyway. That's all I got for that.
I don't think anyone outside of your examples goes by their first names generally. I would certainly not consider it a trend, not beyond the current trend of a few family dynasties (e.g. Bushes and Clintons) dominating politics in the past few decades.
