politics

Due to the fast-changing pace of the political landscape, the fortunes of a politician or political group can change drastically just in the course of a single week. The phrase is attributed to British Prime Minister Harold Wilson, c. 1964. The challenger is enjoying a surge in popularity after the debate, but there's still time before the election, and a week is a long time in politics.

The relationships, interactions, designs, and inner workings of the top members of a political organization (not necessarily of a monarchy or empire). Used especially in relation to internal rivalry, plotting, double crossing, etc. The country has faced its fair share of problems since shaking off the dictatorship, not the least of which being the intense palace politics of the newly formed government.

Because voters are strongly influenced by the political decisions that impact their everyday lives, politicians must make them a priority, in order to stay in office. A: "I'm shocked by how many times the candidates have come to our little town." B: "Well, they know who votes for them, and all politics is local, after all."

Prov. People who would normally dislike and avoid one another will work together if they think it is politically useful to do so. Jill: I never would have thought that genteel, aristocratic candidate would pick such a rabble-rousing, rough-mannered running mate. Jane: Politics makes strange bedfellows.

to make something into a political issue She accused her opponent of playing politics with affirmative action in an attempt to divide the American people. Either we can play politics or we can take these studies seriously and make the changes we need to make.

Act for personal or political gain rather than principle, as in I don't think this judge is fair-he's playing politics. [Mid-1800s]

A peculiar alliance or combination, as in George and Arthur really are strange bedfellows, sharing the same job but totally different in their views . Although strictly speaking bedfellows are persons who share a bed, like husband and wife, the term has been used figuratively since the late 1400s. This particular idiom may have been invented by Shakespeare in The Tempest (2:2), "Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows." Today a common extension is politics makes strange bedfellows, meaning that politicians form peculiar associations so as to win more votes. A similar term is odd couple, a pair who share either housing or a business but are very different in most ways. This term gained currency with Neil Simon's Broadway play The Odd Couple and, even more, with the motion picture (1968) and subsequent television series based on it, contrasting housemates Felix and Oscar, one meticulously neat and obsessively punctual, the other extremely messy and casual.