Where everything is bipartisan until it is not.
The unsung operational force keeping government, campaigns, and institutions running—the person with the spreadsheet, the coffee addiction, and the institutional memory. Staffers do the unglamorous work of actually implementing what their boss gets credit for.
Insider shorthand for a politician—a word used by political reporters, lobbyists, and cynics who don't have time for full syllables. It's the verbal equivalent of a knowing smirk about the state of governance.
An organization formed to collect and distribute campaign contributions, legally separating corporate money from direct campaign coordination (wink, wink).
A city in Baker County, Oregon, named after Fort Sumter in South Carolina. The spelling was altered from 'Sumter' to 'Sumpter' when the post office was established, possibly to match the word for a pack animal.
A political action committee that can raise unlimited funds and spend unlimited amounts on political campaigns, though not directly coordinating with candidates.
A joint conference between House and Senate to resolve differences in bills they've both passed, where haggling happens behind closed doors and the public gets whatever they decide.
Progress to Goal; a political campaign metric tracking phone banking and text outreach volume to measure volunteer productivity.
A nation's ability to influence others through culture, values, and persuasion rather than military force or coercion.
A collection of routine, non-controversial items that legislative bodies vote on as a package without individual discussion, assuming nothing controversial got snuck in, which is always a dangerous assumption.
Coded language understood by a target audience while appearing innocuous to others, the art of saying offensive things without technically saying them.
A parliamentary procedure to set aside or delay consideration of a proposal, a method to kill bills without formal voting (usage varies by country).
A bureaucrat, politician, or institutional mastermind who designs rules from the comfort of abstraction, confident that other people will deal with the messy reality. Policymakers craft the grand strategies while staffers handle the actual paperwork.
A legislative process allowing the Senate to pass certain bills with only a simple 51-vote majority (instead of 60 votes needed for most bills). It's how the majority party gets around the filibuster.
When two parties disagree so fundamentally that nothing gets done; democracy's way of ensuring everyone leaves equally frustrated.
A formal comment issued by the executive when signing legislation, ranging from 'nice bill' to 'I'm not actually going to follow the parts I disagree with', which is technically unconstitutional but happens anyway.
The mere possibility that a senator might filibuster, which is so powerful that the actual filibuster almost never happens anymore because the threat alone kills the bill.
A verbose person who talks constantly and says almost everything in a misleading or dishonest way; basically all words, no truth.
A religious office granting authority to perform sacred rites and represent a religious community spiritually. In traditions like the LDS Church, it's a hierarchical system of spiritual authority—basically religion's version of a corporate ladder.
An elected representative who specializes in translating ideology into legislation—usually written in deliberately impenetrable legalese so that only other lawyers can argue about it. Lawmakers are the original architects of bureaucratic complexity.
A tongue-in-cheek term for a government or system dominated by female elected officials and leaders—a playful (if crude) neologism celebrating female political power and representation.
A political divide-and-conquer tactic where one marginalized group is weaponized against another by blaming one community for systemic problems—pitting the oppressed against each other to maintain power.
Essentially synonymous with 'swing state,' a state where the presidential election is genuinely competitive. Where all the money goes, all the candidates visit, and everyone's votes actually matter.
A delaying or obstructive tactic, often used in scandal response by refusing to cooperate with investigations or provide information. It's what you do when you can't deny something and hope everyone forgets.
Political rhetoric appealing to emotions, prejudices, and fears rather than reason or evidence. It's basically the default style of half the political universe.