With the current American presidential election well underway there is a lot of political vocabulary being used everyday in the media. This post defines some of this common political vocabulary and gives you a chance to practice using some of this new political vocabulary in a few fill-in-the-blank exercises. Enjoy!
bipartisan: (adj) A cooperative interaction between two political parties; when two political parties work together.
campaign: (v) To put effort to try to be elected to office.
GOP: (n) This is an acronym for the Grand Old Party, which is a nickname of the Republican Party in the United States.
incumbent: (n) The current person in a political office, such as the presidency, who is running for re-election.
lame duck: (n) A politician whose term in office will finish soon, but who is still in charge until the new politician takes over soon after the election.
left-wing: (adj) This is a term that is synonymous with the word liberal. The opposite of this is right-wing, which is a term that is synonymous with the word conservative. Interestingly these terms come from the seating in the old French National Assembly, which put liberals on the left, moderates in the middle, and conservatives on the right.
lobby: (n) An organized group of people who try to influence a politician to think like them and make laws that help their group.
nominee: (n) The candidate chosen by a political party to run for a specific political position.
photo-op: (n) This is short for “photo opportunity,” which is a event held just for news cameras to take pictures and help a politician stay in the media and get attention.
poll: (n) A survey used to gauge public opinion concerning issues related to an election.
primary: (n) A preliminary election, often with more than two candidates, which is held to select the candidates for the major election.
pundit: (n) A political analyst, commentator, or otherwise knowledgeable person who works in the media.
right-wing: (adj) This is a term that is synonymous with the word conservative. The opposite of this is left-wing which is a term that is synonymous with the word liberal.
spin: (n) An attempt to shape or change the way the public looks at an issue or event. This term can be thought about in terms of a ball and how a baseball player or a tennis player tries to use the spin of the ball to direct the ball
stump: (v) To campaign in person usually on a local level.
swing vote: (n) The undecided, usually independent, portion of voters that can “swing” or change the outcome of an election one way or the other.
Now for some practice:
1. A _________ for gun owners is trying to have laws passed in their favor by meeting with politicians that are likely to vote on the law.
2. The president was out ___________ in Michigan, meeting voters in person and shaking their hands.
3. The __________ is not campaigning very hard because she thinks that since she already has the position as mayor she will win again.
4. There are many carefully planned __________ in this election season in which politician have had their pictures taken with voters.
5. Every election politicians say they want to have more ____________ cooperation, but after they are elected they do not want to work with the other party on legislation.
The answers to these fill-in-the-blanks will be in tomorrow’s post.
