The magazine of the North Carolina Center for Voter Education • Thursday February 23, 2012

By Bryan Warner
Published: Dec. 31, 2011

RALEIGH - As 2011 draws to a conclusion, the Polictionary returns to offer up some of the more notable and notorious words and phrases from the political year that was.

99 (cardinal number) – The Occupy Wall Street movement made famous the phrase “We are the 99 percent,” a reference to its claim of representing the vast majority of Americans who don’t share in the immense prosperity of the uber wealthy “one-percenters.” While polls may not substantiate the claim that 99 percent of Americans support the occupiers, the phrase caught on and highlighted an ongoing debate over wealth and poverty in the nation.

9-9-9 (cardinal numbers) – After Texas Gov. Rick Perry stumbled out of the gate as the anti-Romney Republican presidential contender, former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain rode to the front of the pack with three simple numbers that sounded as much like a pizza deal as they did a tax proposal. Cain’s plan would replace current taxes with a 9 percent business tax, 9 percent income tax and 9 percent federal sales tax. While the proposal helped Cain rise in the polls, it provided a ripe target for his Republican rivals.

10,000 (cardinal number) – If there is one thing Mitt Romney doesn’t need to prove in his quest for the Republican presidential nomination it is that he has a good amount of walking around money. In a December debate, rival Rick Perry accused Romney of editing the paperback edition of his book to excise a passage about the controversial Massachusetts health-insurance mandate. Romney responded with an impromptu $10,000 bet that Perry had his facts wrong. While the nonpartisan FactCheck.org said Romney would have won that bet, politically he could lose out as opponents – including the Democratic National Committee – painted his big-dollar wager as a sign that he’s out of touch with working-class Americans.

Arab Spring (noun) – As 2011 began, an extraordinary upheaval was taking place in the Middle East. Starting in Tunisia, then spreading to such nations as Egypt and Libya, popular uprisings led to the downfall of longtime regimes and ushered in a time of promise and uncertainty for the region. As ongoing strife in Syria and elsewhere shows, the long-term outcome of the Arab Spring may be unclear, as is the impact on American foreign policy. But the movement has proven to be a powerful re-shaping of the world stage.

debt ceiling (noun) – The success of tea-party-endorsed candidates in the 2010 congressional elections gave Republicans control of the U.S. House for the first time since 2006 and handed Rep. John Boehner the speaker’s gavel. It also saddled Boehner with the task of managing a freshman class of Republican lawmakers who ran on the promise of doing away with business as usual in Washington. One of the most prominent challenges of Boehner’s year came with the debate over raising the nation’s debt ceiling this summer. Tea party adherents said raising the debt limit would be fiscally irresponsible, while proponents of raising the ceiling said failing to do so would lead to financial disaster for the nation. A last-minute deal was struck, averting a fiscal crisis – for a few months, anyway.

double-bunked (adjective) – This year states across the nation redrew congressional districts based on population shifts shown in the 2010 U.S. census. Here in North Carolina, the Republican-crafted maps “double-bunked” or placed four congressional Democratic incumbents in the same districts: David Price and Brad Miller in the 4th District, Larry Kissell and Mike McIntyre in the 8th District. While members of Congress are not required to live in the district they represent, a poll shows that voters much prefer they do. The pairings could set up some awkward dinners among the state’s Democratic congressional delegation as the paired contenders weigh primary fights.

human microphone (noun) – While the Tea Party movement might be best known for its 18th-century garb, the most iconic aspect of the Occupy Wall Street movement could be the human microphone, which seems to also come from a pre-electrical era. A relative of the “telephone game,” the human microphone consists of a speaker’s words repeated loudly by the crowd, making for a truly interactive – if tedious – sound system.

Newt Romney (noun) – As 2011 neared an end and the start of primary voting approached, polls indicated that the Republican nominating fight was becoming a two-person race between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. Hoping to emerge as a third alternative, in a December debate Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota tried to lump the two frontrunners together as an indistinguishable mish-mash called “Newt Romney.” The label may not have stuck, but the imagery could be indelible.

no (exclamation) – Going into the 2012 presidential election, many Republicans seemed desperate to find a viable candidate to compete for the party’s nomination against Mitt Romney, whose conservative core they questioned. However, many a GOP heart was broken in a series of turn-downs from such hoped-for candidates as Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, Mitch Daniels and Chris Christie.

Obamneycare (noun, neologism) – Former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty tried to prove he had elbows sufficiently sharp to take on perceived front runner Mitt Romney in the Republican presidential primary. His term “Obamneycare” was aimed at tying the health-insurance mandate approved by then-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney with the federal mandate championed by President Barack Obama. However, when given the chance to continue his attack in a June debate, Pawlenty demurred, creating the perception that he was not bold enough to take on Romney. Indeed, by the end of summer, Pawlenty had dropped out of the race and endorsed Mitt.

Occupy Wall Street (noun) – While 2010 saw the Tea Party movement flex its muscle in mid-term congressional elections, this year saw the rise of Occupy Wall Street, with protests against wealth inequality spreading to cities throughout the country. The Occupy and Tea Party phenomena seem to have lost traction among independent voters, but they could play a key role in galvanizing voters on both the left and right in 2012.

oops (exclamation) – In what was one of the most memorable moments of this year’s many Republican presidential debates, Texas Gov. Rick Perry couldn’t quite recall which federal agency would be the third that he would shutter if elected to the Oval Office. While the incident reinforced a theme among pundits that Perry might not be ready for prime time, he tried to recover by making light of the gaffe in an appearance on “Late Show with David Letterman.” It remains to be seen if Perry can fully reemerge from the “oops” heard ‘round the world.

shackley (adjective, neologism) – After she dominated the 2009 and 2010 editions of the Polictionary, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin seemed to fade from the political spotlight this year. Alas, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee did secure a spot on our 2011 list by suggesting that the presidency might be too confining, or “shackle-y,” for a maverick like herself as she turned down a run for the White House.

shucky ducky (exclamation) – With the risk of turning this into a list of Herman Cain’s top catch phrases of 2011, we can’t help but include the words that began the announcement of his candidacy for president of the United States. Indeed, every political speech should commence and culminate with a hearty shout of “aw, shucky ducky!”

super committee (noun) – While the name might conjure up images of a sort of “Justice League” for Congress, the so-called super committee was born out of the contentious debt-ceiling debate and was tasked with forging at least $1.2 trillion in deficit-reduction measures. Alas, the joint House and Senate committee failed in its task, leading to the predictably partisan finger-pointing and triggering deep automatic budget cuts in 2013.

Tebowing (verb, neologism) – While Tim Tebow is not a politician, the Denver Broncos quarterback seemed to become a political Rorschach test of sorts this year because of his social conservatism and visible religiosity, including his post-game genuflecting prayers that created the “Tebowing” trend. A survey from Public Policy Polling shows that Tebow is viewed favorably by 68 percent of Republicans, but only 39 percent of Democrats (most of whom we assume are not just rival Raiders fans). Texas Gov. Rick Perry tried to hitch his presidential aspirations to the quarterback, saying that he hopes to be the Tim Tebow of the Iowa caucuses. After two straight stinging losses for Tebow, Perry might be rethinking that analogy.

trout in your milk (colloquialism) – N.C. House Minority Leader Joe Hackney painted one of the more vivid legislative metaphors of the year when he referred to Republicans backing a voter photo ID requirement as having trout in their milk.  The phrase apparently has its origins with unethical dairy farmers who would water down their milk before sale (the proof of which might be the aforementioned stray trout from a stream’s water). Admittedly, we’re still trying to make sense of the comparison, as we just can’t shake the image of a live fish in our glass of moo juice.

twirling (verb) – As Rick Perry can attest, running for president is a difficult task, what with the bright lights, unblinking cameras and incessant questions. For Herman Cain, the many facts and figures “twirling” around in his head led to an uncomfortable interview with the Des Moines Register when he stumbled over a question of President Obama’s policy in Libya.

Ubekibekibekibekistanstan (fictional country) – Anticipating “gotcha” questions from reporters, presidential hopeful Herman Cain dismissed the need to be familiar with far flung – and in this case fictional – countries, saying that such trivial knowledge would not create a single American job. Having left the presidential contest, Cain now suggests he would make a fine secretary of defense.

veto garage (noun) – Here in North Carolina, Republicans came into the year with a veto-proof majority in the N.C. Senate, but the GOP fell four seats shy of such a lock in the N.C. House. As such, with each veto issued by Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue, House Republicans needed to pull at least four Democrats to their side to override the governor’s rejection. Or the GOP could hope to overcome a veto if enough Democrats were absent on any given day. Thus, House Speaker Thom Tillis built a virtual garage for such vetoed bills as a photo ID requirement to vote, ready to revive them whenever Republicans spotted an opportunity to break through the Democrats’ roadblock.

Win the Future (slogan) – When he gave his State of the Union address in January, President Barack Obama coined the phrase “win the future” as a clarion call for the U.S. to “out-innovate, out-educate, out-build the rest of the world.” The slogan, which also could be applied to the time-traveling “Terminator” movie series, has not been mentioned much lately, as the country -- and President Obama -- turns its attention to determining who might win the 2012 election.

And with that we wish you a happy New Year!