Changes

We have already seen a variety of colorful political terms, such as "lame duck."  Here are some more terms for our political dictionary:

We have already seen a variety of colorful political terms, such as "lame duck."  Here are some more terms for our political dictionary:

*the "ground game": this is part of politics which consists of "getting out the vote" by calling and driving people on your side to polling booths so they can vote, or giving them mail-in ballots to the extent that early voting by mail is allowed in your State before election day.  The Democrats have a better "ground game" in the key State of Ohio than Republicans do.  The term is derived from football, where the "ground game" is the nitty gritty way for a term to move the ball down the field, by giving the ball to the running back and blocking for him.

*the "ground game": this is part of politics which consists of "getting out the vote" by calling and driving people on your side to polling booths so they can vote, or giving them mail-in ballots to the extent that early voting by mail is allowed in your State before election day.  The Democrats have a better "ground game" in the key State of Ohio than Republicans do.  The term is derived from football, where the "ground game" is the nitty-gritty way for a team to move the ball down the field, by giving the ball to the running back and blocking for him.

*the "coattails": this refers to how the popularity of a presidential candidate in an election will tend to pull up other candidates in his political party on the same ballot, because many voters do not engage in "split ticket voting," whereby they vote for a Democrat for president but a Republican for Congress.  Mitt Romney's "coattails" will help pro-life U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin in Missouri, because Romney leads Obama by nearly 10 points in that State.

*the "coattails": this refers to how the popularity of a presidential candidate in an election will tend to pull up other candidates in his political party on the same ballot, because many voters do not engage in "split-ticket voting," whereby they vote for a Democrat for president but a Republican for Congress.  Mitt Romney's "coattails" will help pro-life U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin in Missouri, because Romney leads Obama by nearly 10 points in that State.

*"to walk something back": this means for someone to back down and retract or apology a statement he made.  For example, recently Romney campaign advisor John Sununu said that the endorsement of Barack Obama by Colin Powell, who is also black, was because both are black.  Predictably, the media and many Democrats criticized Sununu for his remark, and he then "walked it back" - i.e., revised his statement to say Powell's endorsement had nothing to do with race.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/sununu-says-powell-endorsement-of-obama-was-for-someone-of-his-own-race/2012/10/26/2f1192c6-1f63-11e2-8817-41b9a7aaabc7_story.html</ref>

*"to walk something back": this means for someone to back down and retract or apology a statement he made.  For example, recently Romney campaign advisor John Sununu said that the endorsement of Barack Obama by Colin Powell, who is also black, was because both are black.  Predictably, the media and many Democrats criticized Sununu for his remark, and he then "walked it back" - i.e., revised his statement to say Powell's endorsement had nothing to do with race.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/sununu-says-powell-endorsement-of-obama-was-for-someone-of-his-own-race/2012/10/26/2f1192c6-1f63-11e2-8817-41b9a7aaabc7_story.html</ref>

*to "pivot": like other political terms, this one comes from sports.  Not football this time, but basketball, where a player changes direction with a "pivot".  In politics it refers to how a candidate will change direction in an answer to a question to a topic more favorable to him, as when Mitt Romney "pivoted" in the second debate to talk about Obama's "Fast and Furious" scandal in response to a question about gun control.

*to "pivot": like other political terms, this one comes from sports.  Not football this time, but basketball, where a player changes direction with a "pivot".  In politics it refers to how a candidate will change direction in an answer to a question to a topic more favorable to him, as when Mitt Romney "pivoted" in the second debate to talk about Obama's "Fast and Furious" scandal in response to a question about gun control.