horse race

Defined
A way of depicting a political race to convey who's winning. Rather than focus on candidate issues, pundits will sometimes emphasize poll numbers, for example, and describe a campaign as they would a sporting event. Critics say stressing polling stats, however, diminishes the importance of policy platforms.

Example
As washingtonpost.com's Chris Cillizza explained, "On an almost daily basis, some media outlet or another releases a national poll that tests hypothetical 2008 presidential primary match-ups. These polls invariably produce headlines like, 'Clinton Slips, Obama Gains," "McCain Faltering Among Conservatives" or "Romney Fails to Gain Traction.' But is that what the poll numbers are really telling us?" Cillizza concludes, "Not really." As tempting as it may be to gage a campaign's state from the polls, Cillizza says, "how a candidate looks today in a national poll isn't terribly predictive of how he or she will finish in the Hawkeye State and beyond." (washingtonpost.com, March 14, 2007)

HISTORY
The phrase stems from the literal term, "horse race," that describes a spectator sport. In his book, "Calling Elections: the History of Horse-race Journalism," Thomas B. Littlewood says the term evolved as the use of polls among political campaigns rose. "Many influential journalists resisted the growing power of media polls" but eventually these became a greater part of campaign coverage.

Putting the Horse Race Numbers in Perspective (The Washington Post)

Look Up Terms

By Category:

Alphabetically:

Surprise Me »

187 words and phrases catalogued so far.

Recently Added:

Contribute Terms:

There's a treasure trove (or minefield) of political words and phrases out there. Are we missing a stunning example of political wordsmithery? Is there a term that stumps you? Tell us about it.