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==Origin of the term==

==Origin of the term==

Dictionaries report "mugguomp" was an  [[Algonquin]] word  meaning "person of importance" or "war leader." Charles Anderson Dana, the colorful newspaperman and editor of the ''New York Sun'', is said to have given the Mugwumps their political moniker.  Dana made the term plural and derided them as amateurs and public moralists.<ref> Sperber and Trittschuh pp 276-7</ref>

Dictionaries report "mugguomp" was an  [[Algonquin]] word  meaning "person of importance" or "war leader." [[Charles Anderson Dana]], the colorful newspaperman and editor of the [[New York Sun]], is said to have given the Mugwumps their political moniker.  Dana made the term plural and derided them as amateurs and public moralists.<ref> Sperber and Trittschuh pp 276-7</ref>

During the 1884 campaign, they were often portrayed as "fence-sitters," with part of their body on the side of the Democrats and the other on the side of the Republicans. (Their "mug" on one side of the fence, and their "wump" on the other.)  Angry Republicans like [[Roscoe Conkling]] sometimes hinted they were homosexual, calling them "Man milliners." <ref> Allan Nevins, ''Grover Cleveland'' p. 178; Muzzey, ''Blaine'' p. 160 </ref>

During the 1884 campaign, they were often portrayed as "fence-sitters," with part of their body on the side of the Democrats and the other on the side of the Republicans. (Their "mug" on one side of the fence, and their "wump" on the other.)  Angry Republicans like [[Roscoe Conkling]] sometimes hinted they were homosexual, calling them "Man milliners." <ref> Allan Nevins, ''Grover Cleveland'' p. 178; Muzzey, ''Blaine'' p. 160 </ref>