Legal Commentary

big hint: words to use besides “battleground”

By David A. Giacalone

Dear Publisher, Pundit, Pub Patron & Political Junkie:

Trust us, the term “battleground state” can’t be found anywhere in the U.S. Constitution.  But, you keep using it every chance you get (e.g., here, here and even there), to the exclusion of some very fine — and often more precise and interesting — words.

You’re probably way too busy to pick up a thesaurus during this last month before the election.  So, the f/k/a Gang has compiled for you a full buffet of words and phrases that might be substituted for the annoyingly ubiquitous presidential campaign b-word, in the various situations where neither of the major party candidates yet has an insurmountable lead in a particular state and they’re both fighting to win its electoral votes.

The words are presented in no particular order, to preserve and provoke your creative freedom (and save us the bother of categorization).  Please don’t thank us for the list; we thank you in advance for using it. Of course, we’d appreciate any additional family-friendly words left in our Comment section to describe states or voters formerly known as “battleground.”

s/ the f/k/a Gang

. . . . toss-up, close, even, hotly-contested, swing, purple, uncommitted, doubtful

last-ditch, contended, undecided, indecisive, seesaw, hot, unsafe, rainbow,
margin-of-error, tight race, unpredictable, iffy, in dubio, indeterminable

fickle, coy, available, obtainable, persuadable,  
unpersuaded, disputed, doubtful, coin-flip, balanced, even-odds, in play

combat zone, dogfight, open, unsettled, noncommittal, inscrutable
eleventh-hour, too-close-to-call, neck and neck, photo-finish, tug-of-war

front line, challenged, disputed, unsettled, closely-contested
winnable, attainable, achievable, potential, feasible, possible, within reach

locked in a staring contest
me…
and a frog

… by Kobayashi Issa, translated by David G. Lanoue

p.s. Below the fold: A good summary of the concept of “battleground” or “swing” state from Wikipedia, plus a few haiku from Master Issa.

Swing State: A swing state (also, battleground state or purple state) in United States presidential politics is a state in which no candidate has overwhelming support, meaning that any of the major candidates have a reasonable chance of winning the state’s electoral college votes. Such states are targets of both major political parties in presidential elections, since winning these states is the best opportunity for a party to gain electoral votes. Non-swing states are sometimes called safe states, because one candidate has strong enough support that they can safely assume they will win the state’s votes.

a battle royal
with radishes…
children

all day
amid the cherry blossoms
picking fights

rainbow over the mountain
yet on the lake
an autumn gale

……………… by Kobayashi Issa, translated by David G. Lanoue

jack-o-lanterns
in trash cans –
election day

… by dagosan

Full post as published by f/k/a . . . on October 11, 2008 (boomark / email).