Those who have power and influence in business, politics, or other segments of the public sphere. Party leadership, committee leaders, or people with influence among certain demographics can all be considered movers and shakers.
The term was coined by 19th century poet Arthur O’Shaughnessy.
A person with the highest status or most power in an organization. From a political standpoint, this usually refers to someone in the party leadership or with another influential position.
The term is interchangeable with mucky-muck or muckamuck.
As a verb, it means to shelter the people with welfare benefits to the point where they become incapable of contributing to society. The term is used pejoratively, often by those arguing against social welfare programs.
As a noun, it can be used for those who are pampered, sheltered, and weak. It often has a gendered connotation, implying that someone who is a mollycoddle is effeminate.
The term was coined by Theodore Roosevelt, who used it to describe colleagues he saw as weak.
Kevin P. Murphy explains: “Roosevelt asserted that colleges should never ‘turn out mollycoddles instead of vigorous men,’ and cautioned that ‘the weakling and the coward are out of place in a strong and free community.’ A paradigm of ineffectuality and weakness, the mollycoddle was ‘all inner life,’ whereas his opposite, the ‘red blood,’ was a man of action.”
A term used by President Ronald Reagan’s 1984 re-election ad to describe the hope and optimism of the people after years of turmoil.
The advertisement starts with the phrase, “It’s morning again in America,” and proceeds to show an idyllic and nostalgic landscape of the US, where the economy is good and everyone is happy. It told of a nation that was hopeful after years of negativity in government.
Today, the phrase can be used to describe the beginning of an era of hope.
“Misunderestimate” is a malapropism invented by President George W. Bush that has come to mean “to underestimate by mistake.”
Bush accidentally used the term in a 2000 interview, saying, “They misunderestimated me.” He likely meant to say “underestimated” but the term became linked with Bush, often as evidence for his lack of intelligence.
A Cold War-era phrase that was used to describe the difference in number and power of missiles between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R.
The term was first used by Sen. John F. Kennedy in 1958 to accuse then-President Eisenhower of being weak on defense. The idea of a missile gap was debunked, but the perception of one persisted. The missile gap actually favored the U.S., but false claims of Soviet superiority led to a surge in military expansion.
The practice of setting music to awkward, B-roll footage of a politician.
The term was coined after Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) re-election campaign in 2014 posted a two-and-a-half minute video of the senator campaigning set simply to music. As Time points out, the footage “was most likely placed there for outside PACs supportive of McConnell to use, a practice circumventing campaign finance rules barring coordination used by both Republicans and Democrats.”
The Daily Show coined the term “McConnelling” and provided a few hilarious examples, putting the footage of McConnell to Salt-n-Pepa’s “Whatta Man,” Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Sounds of Silence” and Sir Mix-A-Lot’s “Baby Got Back.”
Said host Jon Stewart: “Here’s the secret. It works with every song that has the word ‘eyes’ in it.”
A type of Senate hold nicknamed because of the senator’s implied desire to make a deal, rather than block a legislative action entirely.
The reference to movie star Mae West alludes to her frequently misquoted line from the 1933 film She Done Him Wrong, “Why don’t you come up sometime and see me?” The senator implies that those who wish to clear the hold are welcome to visit his office and negotiate.
A strategy of using a politician’s controversial statements to attract a large number of campaign donors.
Washington Post: “Here’s how it works: An up-and-coming politician blurts out something incendiary, provocative or otherwise controversial. The remark bounces around the blogs and talk shows and becomes a sensation. And in the midst of it all, the politician’s fundraisers are manning the phones and raking in the donations.”
“The phenomenon marks another phase in the quest for money in politics, fueled by the eternal hum of the Internet, social media and 24-hour cable news… The money blurt — spontaneous or not — is a close cousin to a technique called the ‘money bomb,’ in which a campaign or its supporters designate a specific day or time period to raise a vast amount of cash and generate publicity.”
An intense grassroots online fundraising effort over a brief fixed time period to support a candidate for election.
The term was first applied to a fundraising effort on behalf of the 2008 presidential campaign of Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) which the San Jose Mercury News described at the time as “a one-day fundraising frenzy”.
Political consultant Ed Rollins described the effectiveness of Paul’s money bomb to the Washington Post: “I’ll tell you, I’ve been in politics for 40 years, and these days everything I’ve learned about politics is totally irrelevant because there’s this uncontrollable thing like the Internet. Washington insiders don’t know what to make of it.”
The comfortable relationship between the military, the federal government and the defense contractors that produce weapons and equipment for war.
The term was immortalized by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in his farewell address to the nation on January 17, 1961. In the speech, Eisenhower cites the military-industrial complex as a warning to the American people not to let this dictate America’s actions at home or abroad.
Said Eisenhower: “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.”
Mugwumps were Republicans who supported Democratic presidential candidate Grover Cleveland in 1884 because they viewed their own party’s candidate, James G. Blaine, as corrupt. Many historians believe the Mugwumps swung the election to Cleveland by helping him win in New York and its 36 electoral votes.
After the election, the term came to mean someone who is independent or who remains undecided or neutral in politics.
Michael Quinion: “It hit the big time in 1884, during the presidential election that set Grover Cleveland against the Republican James G Blaine. Some Republicans refused to support Blaine, changed sides, and the New York Sun labeled them little mugwumps. Almost overnight, the sense of the word changed to turncoat. Later, it came to mean a politician who either could not or would not make up his mind on some important issue, or who refused to take a stand when he was expected to do so. Hence the old joke that a mugwump is a person sitting on the fence, with his mug on one side and his wump on the other.”
The Atlantic notes their opponents also sneered at Mugwumps as “hermaphrodites.”
A metaphor used by 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin for conservative women.
In speeches during the 2010 midterm election campaign, Palin challenged these “mama grizzlies” to rise up and “take this country back” and invoked her 2008 acceptance speech where she compared herself to a pit bull.
Said Palin: “You don’t want to mess with moms who are rising up. If you thought pit bulls were tough, you don’t want to mess with mama grizzlies.”
As Salon noted, “These mama bears are the same hockey moms Palin targeted in her vice presidential bid, only now they’re angry.”
The first speech a legislator gives, a maiden speech is often a non-controversial tribute to the politician’s state or district, and often pays tribute to his or her predecessor. Especially in the Senate, which prides itself on being the “world’s greatest deliberative body,” senators are expected to wait to deliver their maiden speech until they are familiar with the rules of the body.
While most maiden speeches are relatively uncontroversial, that’s not always the case. One of the most famous was Richard Nixon’s first speech to the House of Representatives, where he praised the communist-hunting efforts of the House Un-American Activities Committee .
Mudslinging, often called negative campaigning, is the practice of making malicious attacks against a political opponent’s character and reputation.
The term originates from the Latin phrase “fortiter calumniari, aliquia adhaerebit,” which translated to “throw plenty of dirt and some of it will stick.”
Routine business that is supposed to occur during the first two hours of a new legislative day in the U.S. Senate. This business includes receiving messages from the President and from the other legislative chamber, reports from executive branch officials, petitions from citizens, committee reports and the introduction of bills and submission of resolutions.
In practice, this sometime occurs at other convenient points in the day.
The committee meeting held to review the text of a bill before reporting it to the floor. Committee members do not make changes to the text but can vote on proposed amendments. In conclusion, members vote on a motion to send the bill with accompanying amendments, to the House.
There is room for political maneuvering during the mark-up meeting, as quoted by one lobbyist familiar with the process: “Committee’s often abruptly cancel congressional mark ups, such as in this case and instead schedule hearings in an attempt to regain support for a bill.”
The name given to the process of allowing a citizen to register to vote when obtaining or renewing a driver’s license.
The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 made the process mandatory across the country beginning in 1995.
A journalist who investigates the scandalous activities of public officials and businesses.
The term “muckraker” was first used in a speech on April 14, 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt: “In Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress you may recall the description of the Man with the Muck-rake, the man who could look no way but downward with the muck-rake in his hands; Who was offered a celestial crown for his muck-rake, but who would neither look up nor regard the crown he was offered, but continued to rake to himself the filth of the floor.”
The most famous muckrakers in American history are probably Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein for their work in exposing the corruption in the Nixon administration.
