Avis car-rental was the second largest in the field (after Hertz) thus the giving birth to the advertising slogan they utilized for 50 years, "We Try Harder."
It seems that this has been the year of GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump being in second place in several venues. He is the Avis of political candidates. And Trump certainly tries harder. In fact, I find him to be one of the most trying people on the planet.
Earlier this month he failed to be named TIME magazine's title Person of the Year. That title went to German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Trump's loss prompted him to tweet "I told you @TIME Magazine would never pick me as person of the year despite being the big favorite They picked person who is ruining Germany." (Yes, he said "ruining," not "running.")
Next Trump failed at being named Barbara Walters' Most Fascinating Person of 2015. That moniker went to Caitlyn Jenner.
And in a Gallop Poll released today, the Most Admired Man was President Barack Obama. Trump tied Pope Francis for the second position. What? Trump tied the Pope! Go figure. This creates a bit of a dilemma for Trump. How does he brag about this without acknowledging that Obama was the Most Admired Man? I am sure Trump will find a way to put the Trump-spin on it.
In that regard, he did capture a couple of first place honors earlier this month.
Pulitzer Prize-winning Politicalfact.org honored Trump as telling the "Lie of the Year," noting "PolitiFact has been documenting Trump's statements on our Truth-O-Meter, where we've rated 76 percent of them Mostly False, False or Pants on Fire, out of 77 statements checked. No other politician has as many statements rated so far down on the dial."
And Factcheck.org named Trump "King of the Whopper," stating "In the 12 years of FactCheck.org's existence, we've never seen his match. He stands out not only for the sheer number of his factually false claims, but also for his brazen refusals to admit error when proven wrong."
Trump claims he has a great memory. I agree. Unfortunately, like Mark Twain, he seems to be able to remember things whether they happened or not.
One can only hope that Trump's second place status will continue next year.
Will Trump's political legacy be "always a bridesmaid, never a bride?"
Maybe not if Steve Harvey announces the election results.