The term "Bushism" was first coined in 1992 by the writer Jonathan Bines, and applied to President George Herbert Walker Bush's tendency to misspeak during speeches or interviews. The term has since been adopted for use with his son, President…
Many incumbent presidents seeking a second term in office form re-election committees, staffed primarily by trusted aides and influential political party members. In 1971, such a committee to re-elect the president was formed to help raise funds for Richard Nixon's…
The mainstream media is a collective journalistic entity that provides news and information to a large audience. This is in contrast with the alternative media, which reaches a much smaller and often more specific audience. Some people refer to it…
Gang of Eight is a nickname used to refer to a group of eight members of the United States (US) Congress. It includes four members from the Senate and four members from the House of Representatives. According to the National…
The Bradley Effect is a phenomenon characterized by the tendency of non-white political candidates to perform better in opinion polls than they do in actual elections when they are running against white candidates. Most specifically, this effect often strikes black…
The term “Obamamania” was coined in 2007 to describe the immensely energized and motivated supporters of Barack Obama, a Democratic presidential candidate. Many commentators remarked on the sudden surge of popularity for Obama with some incredulity, asking how it was…
IOKIYAR is an acronym which stands for It's OK If You're A Republican, referring to allegations of hypocritical behavior by powerful members of the Republican party. Someone making this allegation might charge, for example, that a Republican-led commission may grill…
Ghost voting is a practice in which a member of a legislative assembly casts a vote without being present in the voting chamber. While it might seem impossible to vote without being present, there are in fact several ways in…
A milker bill is a piece of legislation which is designed to generate income for a politician or group of politicians. In such legislation, a threat is made which causes people to mobilize to defeat the bill, thereby generating funds,…
In U.S. politics, a battleground state is a state where the political race between a Republican and Democrat, usually presidential candidates, is extremely close. Due to the way that presidential elections are run in the United States, the popular vote…