Stump
Defined
Used as a verb, the term refers to the act of campaigning.
HISTORY
According to William Safire's Political Dictionary, "to achieve a dominating posture, a frontier speechmaker would use a convenient tree stump as a platform." Safire also noted that the first reference was in 1716 and it was part of American political vocabulary by 1838.
- Obama Stumps in Indiana (Post, April 28, 2008)
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