<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u2022 ailing <\/a>(troubled, sick)<\/p>\n \u2022 Air Force One<\/a> (the President’s plane)<\/p>\n \u2022 allegation <\/a>(formal accusation)<\/p>\n \u2022 antics <\/a>(ludicrous acts done for amusement)<\/p>\n \u2022 anti-incumbent <\/a>(against current officeholders)<\/p>\n \u2022 asset <\/a>(useful or valuable property)<\/p>\n \u2022 avert <\/a>(avoid)<\/p>\n \u2022 backtrack <\/a>(retrace one’s course, go backwards)<\/p>\n \u2022 bail out<\/a> (financial rescue)<\/p>\n \u2022 bastions <\/a>(group that defends a principal)<\/p>\n \u2022 beleaguered <\/a>(beset by trouble or difficulty)<\/p>\n \u2022 bemoan <\/a>(regret strongly)<\/p>\n \u2022 bestowing <\/a>(giving)<\/p>\n \u2022 bide <\/a>one\u2019s time (wait, endure)<\/p>\n \u2022 blast <\/a>(criticize loudly and strongly)<\/p>\n \u2022 blatantly <\/a>(in an obvious way)<\/p>\n \u2022 blow back<\/a> (damage one receives in return for an aggressive action)<\/p>\n \u2022 blunders <\/a>(mistakes)<\/p>\n \u2022 boiling point<\/a> (being highly angry or excited)<\/p>\n \u2022 brainchild <\/a>(idea)<\/p>\n \u2022 breakthrough <\/a>(discovery or productive insight)<\/p>\n \u2022 bruising <\/a>fight (violent fight)<\/p>\n \u2022 burden <\/a>(difficult concern)<\/p>\n \u2022 call play by play <\/a>(sports commentary)<\/p>\n \u2022 call the shots<\/a> (rule, make all the decisions)<\/p>\n \u2022 campaign stunt<\/a> (campaign action meant to get publicity)<\/p>\n \u2022 clamor<\/a>(loud demands)<\/p>\n \u2022 confidence motion <\/a>(censure motion)<\/p>\n \u2022 counterparts <\/a>(people who share the same function as other people)<\/p>\n \u2022 crack down<\/a> (enforce a law more stringently)<\/p>\n \u2022 cronies <\/a>(friends appointed to positions of authority)<\/p>\n \u2022 crushed <\/a>(defeated)<\/p>\n \u2022 deal breaker<\/a> (issue which causes a relationship to fail)<\/p>\n \u2022 deeply rooted <\/a>in (deep ties or history with)<\/p>\n \u2022 defeated <\/a>(win against)<\/p>\n \u2022 don’t ask don’t tell rule<\/a> (a US defense directive that allows gay and bi-sexual people to serve in the military and that their superiors won’t ask if they are and they won’t tell.<\/p>\n \u2022 draft <\/a>(write a preliminary outline)<\/p>\n \u2022 eke out <\/a>(make by laborious means)<\/p>\n \u2022 endangered <\/a>(in danger)<\/p>\n \u2022 expense <\/a>(money spent)<\/p>\n \u2022 feat <\/a>(notable achievement)<\/p>\n \u2022 felony <\/a>(serious crime)<\/p>\n \u2022 foot-dragging<\/a> (deliberately delaying or moving slowly)<\/p>\n \u2022 forged <\/a>(shaped)<\/p>\n \u2022 fraud<\/a>–tainted <\/a>(marked by deception)<\/p>\n \u2022 galvanize <\/a>(stimulate action)<\/p>\n \u2022 get out of the way<\/a> (move to not obstruct or hinder)<\/p>\n \u2022 go rogue<\/a> (cease to follow orders)<\/p>\n \u2022 GOP<\/a> (Grand Old Party=Republican Party)<\/p>\n \u2022 grease the wheels <\/a>(clear the way)<\/p>\n \u2022 halt <\/a>(stop)<\/p>\n \u2022 hands off <\/a>(not involved)<\/p>\n \u2022 have your work cut out for you<\/a> (have difficult work ahead)<\/p>\n \u2022 hung <\/a>parliament (unable to make a decision)<\/p>\n \u2022 in over one\u2019s head<\/a> (in a more complex situation than one can understand)<\/p>\n \u2022 incumbent <\/a>(official who holds the office)<\/p>\n \u2022 keep at bay<\/a> (keep at a distance)<\/p>\n \u2022 lackadaisical <\/a>(lacking in spirit or liveliness)<\/p>\n \u2022 lashed out<\/a> (attacked)<\/p>\n \u2022 leaned in<\/a>(incline towards)<\/p>\n \u2022 learning curve <\/a>(time needed to learning something new)<\/p>\n \u2022 liability <\/a>(disadvantage)<\/p>\n \u2022 Lincoln bedroom<\/a> (a room at the White House best known as a guest room used by presidents to reward friends and political supporters.)<\/p>\n \u2022 litigation <\/a>(a legal proceeding in a court)<\/p>\n \u2022 loopholes <\/a>(ambiguity in the law that makes it possible to evade it)<\/p>\n \u2022 main street<\/a> (any small town, regular or ordinary people)<\/p>\n \u2022 making the rounds <\/a>(being distributed to the usual list of people)<\/p>\n \u2022 malfeasance <\/a>(wrongful conduct by a public official)<\/p>\n \u2022 mandate <\/a>(authority)<\/p>\n \u2022 midterm <\/a>(elections in the United States in which members of United States Congress (including all 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives and full terms for 33 or 34 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate), and some state legislatures & governors are elected)<\/p>\n \u2022 mince words <\/a>(restrain oneself in a conversation)<\/p>\n \u2022 much sought after<\/a> (greatly desired)<\/p>\n \u2022 off the mark <\/a>(inaccurate)<\/p>\n \u2022 old guard <\/a>(faction unwilling to accept new ideas)<\/p>\n \u2022 oust <\/a>(to remove from office)<\/p>\n \u2022 out in force <\/a>(out exerting influence)<\/p>\n \u2022 out of pocket<\/a> (cash spent that won’t be reimbursed)<\/p>\n \u2022 outcome <\/a>(result)<\/p>\n \u2022 outpolled <\/a>(defeat in a poll)<\/p>\n \u2022 oversight <\/a>(supervision)<\/p>\n \u2022 papering over <\/a>that (concealing or hiding something)<\/p>\n \u2022 pettiness <\/a>(narrowness of mind or ideas)<\/p>\n \u2022 phony <\/a>(fake, false)<\/p>\n \u2022 pick up the slack <\/a>(move faster, work harder)<\/p>\n \u2022 played from his gut <\/a>(acted by instinct)<\/p>\n \u2022 plight <\/a>(difficult situation)<\/p>\n \u2022 pocketbooks <\/a>(wallets)<\/p>\n \u2022 poised <\/a>(ready for action)<\/p>\n \u2022 pork-barrel deals<\/a> (legislative appropriations to ingratiate legislators with their constituents.<\/p>\n \u2022 portray <\/a>(make a portrait of)<\/p>\n \u2022 poster child<\/a> (someone who is prototypical of something)<\/p>\n \u2022 prevailed <\/a>(won)<\/p>\n \u2022 pundits <\/a>(someone who gives opinion in the media)<\/p>\n \u2022 push <\/a>a story (promote)<\/p>\n \u2022 reign <\/a>(predominate, have authority)<\/p>\n \u2022 revamp <\/a>(change)<\/p>\n \u2022 root out<\/a> (find and eliminate)<\/p>\n \u2022 run the gauntlet <\/a>(do something very challenging)<\/p>\n \u2022 run up<\/a> (escalate)<\/p>\n \u2022 runoff <\/a>(a second election to resolve an earlier one that didn’t produce a winner)<\/p>\n \u2022 seize <\/a>(take or capture by force)<\/p>\n \u2022 senator-elect<\/a> (a recently elected Senator who hasn’t yet officially taken office)<\/p>\n \u2022 shout out<\/a> (greeting or acknowledgment)<\/p>\n \u2022 shrewd <\/a>(astute)<\/p>\n \u2022 slip <\/a>(mistake)<\/p>\n \u2022 slipping <\/a>steadily in popularity (losing popularity)<\/p>\n \u2022 slur <\/a>(insult)<\/p>\n \u2022 speak your mind<\/a> (state one’s thoughts or opinions openly)<\/p>\n \u2022 spin <\/a>(twist and turn to give an intended interpretation in the media)<\/p>\n \u2022 spotlight <\/a>(make visible or prominent)<\/p>\n \u2022 squabble<\/a> (argue)<\/p>\n \u2022 stand more than a snowball’s chance<\/a> of winning (abbreviated version of \u00aba snowball’s chance in hell\u00bb meaning no chance at all)<\/p>\n \u2022 stick one\u2019s neck out (took a risk)<\/p>\n \u2022 stump for<\/a> (travel through a district and make political speeches)<\/p>\n \u2022 surmount <\/a>(overcome)<\/p>\n \u2022 tabloids <\/a>(yellow, sensationalist journalism)<\/p>\n \u2022 take on<\/a> (assume, undertake)<\/p>\n \u2022 take some of the flack <\/a>(take some of the criticism)<\/p>\n \u2022 the straw that broke the camel’s back<\/a> (A small and seemingly insignificant addition to a burden that renders it too much to bear)<\/p>\n \u2022 thin-skinned<\/a> (quick to take offense)<\/p>\n \u2022 tied <\/a>(equal score in a contest)<\/p>\n \u2022 tokenized <\/a>(to be made insignificantly small and symbolic)<\/p>\n \u2022 too close to call<\/a> (when there is no clear winner)<\/p>\n \u2022 topple <\/a>(cause to collapse)<\/p>\n \u2022 trailblazer <\/a>(pioneer)<\/p>\n \u2022 turnaround <\/a>(reversal)<\/p>\n