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Ballot initiative
Bal-lot ini-tia-tive (n)
A proposed law or policy that is voted on directly by the public. It is also sometimes called a referendum, proposition, or ballot measure. Ballot initiatives are different in each state and give voters a chance to express themselves on a variety of issues.
C
Campaign
Cam-paign (n)
The activities, speeches, meetings, strategies, and everything else a candidate uses to help him or her win the party's nomination or the election.
Campaign Finance Reform
Cam-paign Fi-nance Re-form (n)
A movement to better control the amount of money candidates are allowed to spend on political campaigning and advertising, as well as where the money comes from. The goal of campaign finance reform is to make the political process fair for all candidates.
Caucus
Cau-cus (n)
Neighborhood meetings at which members of the major political parties vote for the candidate of their choice, and select delegates (see definition below) to represent their party at its convention. The process is slightly different from state to state.
Conservative
Con-ser-va-tive (n)
A political candidate whose views mirror or closely resemble points of view put forward in the Republican platform.
Constituent
Con-stit-u-ent (n)
A resident of a district or a member of a group represented by an elected official.
Delegate
Del-e-gate (n)
A person chosen to represent one of the political parties at its convention. The delegates vote on the candidates within their party.
Democrat
Dem-o-crat (n)
a member of the Democratic Party, one of the two major political parties
in the United States. The 2000 Democratic party platform can be found on the website of the Democratic National
Committee at www.democrats.org. Democrats will be writing a new party platform at this year's
political
convention. These positions are traditional Democratic positions and principles, though Democrats do not have to share any or all of them.
District
Dis-trict (n)
A defined portion of a state, town, or city that is created for electoral purposes. Each representative in Congress represents a congressional district. Registered voters who live in a particular district are the only ones who can vote for candidates running in that district.
E
Electoral College
Elec-tor-al Col-lege (n)
The group of 538 electors chosen to elect the President and Vice-President of the United States. A candidate needs 270 electoral votes, which is a majority of the 538 electoral votes needed to be elected President. Each state gets a certain number of electors based on the population of the state. Who these electors vote for is usually determined by the majority of the state's popular vote in the election, though no law requires them to do so. Usually, all of a state's electoral votes go toward one candidate or another. In Nebraska and Maine, however, the electors and their electoral votes may be split among different candidates.
Exit Poll
Ex-it Poll (n)
A survey of voter opinion taken right after people have cast their votes in an election. Exit poll results are usually revealed before election results.
Grassroots
Grass-roots (adj)
This term refers to a group of people gathered at a local level rather than from within a major political activity or party. Many movements to create new laws begin at the grassroots level before they make it to Congress.
H
Health care
Health care (n)
The prevention, treatment, and management of an illness. Right now, politicians and others are debating how to best manage the process of delivering healthcare and who should pay for it.
I
Independent
In-de-pen-dent (n)
A person who is not a member of one political party or organization.
Left Wing
Left Wing (n)
This term describes a candidate (or political campaign) whose positions mirror or closely resemble points of view put forth in the Democratic platform.
Liberal
Lib-er-al (n)
A political candidate whose views mirror or closely resemble points of view put forth in the Democratic platform.
Lobbyist
Lob-by-ist (n)
A person whose job is to influence lawmakers or other public officials to support or not support a specific cause. For example, the "environmental lobby" works to influence officials to support laws that protect the environment.
Moderate
Mod-er-ate (n)
A political candidate whose positions put him or her somewhere between Republican and Democratic points of view.
Mudsling
Mud-sling (sl)
This word refers to the act of making harmful charges against an opponent in a political campaign to make that person look bad.
N
Negative Ad
Neg-a-tive Ad (n)
A political advertisement that focuses on attacking an opponent's record or character.
PAC (political action committee)
PAC (n)
A group that works to raise money to pay for a candidate's campaign.
Platform
Plat-form (n)
A candidate's or political party's agreed-upon list of issue positions and plans. The political parties decide on platforms at their election-year conventions.
Political Convention
Po-lit-i-cal Con-ven-tion (n)
A big- usually loud - meeting each political party holds at the end of the primary and caucus season. The parties nominate and announce their candidates for President and Vice President, and agree on a platform of ideas that those candidates may promote.
Political Party
Po-lit-i-cal Par-ty (n)
Organized groups of voters and politicians with similar ideas about how the government should be run and who should represent them. There are many different political parties, but the two major ones are the Democrats and the Republicans.
Poll
Poll (n)
A gathering of public opinion on a specific or general issue Politicians often use polls to better understand where their constituents stand.
Primary election
Pri-mary elec-tion (n)
State contests held early in an election year during which voters select delegates to help determine their party's eventual Presidential nominee. Unlike caucuses, primaries use a secret ballot, just like a regular election. Some primary elections are "closed," which means that the primary is only open to registered members of that political party. In an "open primary," people from any party - or none at all - can vote in the primary.
R
Republican
Re-pub-li-can (n)
A member of the Republican Party, one of the two major political
parties in the United States. The 2000 Republican party platform can be found on the website of the Republican
National Committee at www.rnc.org. Republicans will be writing a new party platform at this year's political
convention. These positions are traditional Republican positions and principles, though Republicans do not have to share any or all of them.
Right Wing
Right Wing (n)
This term describes a candidate (or political campaign) whose positions mirror or closely resemble points of view put forth in the Republican platform.
"Soft money"
"Soft mon-ey" (n)
Campaign donations made by individuals, labor unions, corporations and other sources made to political parties, not to the candidates themselves. In 2002, the Supreme Court ruled that neither national parties, nor candidates can accept or ask for "soft money."
Stump
Stump (n)
A place or an occasion used for a campaign speech. "Candidates out on the stump" or "stumping the vote" are phrases often used when referring to candidates making campaign speeches.
Special interest group
Spe-cial in-ter-est group (n)
A group of people dedicated to a particular issue or "special interest" that works to educate citizens on that issue. Examples of special interest groups include the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), which promotes issues important to senior citizens, and the National Organization for Women (NOW), which focuses on issues important to women.
Super Tuesday
Su-per Tues-day (n)
The day when many states hold their primary elections all at once. This election's Super Tuesday is March 2. Usually, the parties begin to get a good idea of who the most likely candidates are after these primaries are over.
T
Third party
Third par-ty (n)
A political party organized to provide an alternative to the existing parties (Democrat and Republican) in a two-party system. One example of a Third party is the Reform Party, which was founded by billionaire businessman and former presidential candidate Ross Perot.
War Chest
War Chest (n)
The amount of money a candidate raises in contributions to his or her campaign. Candidates usually use this money to advertise their message to the public.
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