At times, the son seemed to strain to define himself as different from his father.
His overriding task is to define himself as more than a rich man with untested campaign skills.
Mr. Bunning sought to define himself as a moderate and a defender of Social Security, repeatedly reminding voters that he is the Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Social Security.
Mr. Forrester has also been trying to define himself as a moderate to New Jersey voters, half of whom say they do not know enough about him to form an opinion, according to recent polls.
He faces the daunting task Wednesday night of having only 30 minutes to undercut Mr. Lautenberg and define himself as a moderate Republican to an electorate that has become increasingly Democratic.
Mr. Bush sought to define himself as optimistic about returning the country to prosperity and experienced at protecting it from terrorism, while suggesting that Mr. Kerry was erratic, intent on raising taxes and driven by expediency.
The Communist Party spent decades promoting the virtues of conformity, but the questionnaire suggested that, in the new world of Chinese love, a man is expected to be able to define himself as precisely as possible.
Apart from a smattering of homophobic trolling, the majority of Twitter commentary has followed a live-and-let-live argument, noting that it doesn't really matter how Daley chooses to define himself as long as he's happy.
Buttigieg is not trying to define himself as "moderate" or "socialist". He is Mayor Pete.
Ask him to define himself as a "playwright" and he will demur.
He began to define himself as "omnisexual," although he was mostly attracted to women.
