Political Metaphors 101 Animals Birds

Lipstick on a Pig, Dark Horse, Jockeying, Dead Heat, Political Handicapper, Champing at the Bit, Two Horse Race, Underdog, Dogfight, Dog Whistles, To Wag the Dog, Pork Barrel Politics, Bringing Home the Bacon, Donkey Vote, Lame Duck, Rubber Chicken Circuit, Political Sacred Cow, Cattle Call, Political Red Meat, Party Whip, Kangaroo Ticket, Underdog Challenger

Political lingo is rich with metaphors and jargon and owes its origin to animals, colors and nature, among many other categories. Once new to this country, I had thought that congressmen actually got whipped by the “party whip” if they disobeyed the party rules and remember wondering about the legality of such an event. I understood right away other political metaphors such as a “political sacred cow“, as the origin of this phrase is from the country I was born in where the cow is considered sacred.

Part 2 of this blog post covers many other political metaphors that relate to colors and nature

Animal Related Political Metaphors

Have you ever mistaken media reporting on political campaigns to be that of a horse race or dog fight? You’re not alone!! Per Aristotle, “Man is a Political Animal” , so it’s perhaps not surprising that animals play quite a big role in political metaphors.

Horses – Dark Horse, Jockeying, Dead Heat, Political Handicapper, Champing at the Bit, Two Horse Race

Dark horses, jockeys, dead heats, political handicappers and many more horse racing related political metaphors are used liberally in our news media.

A dark horse is one that there is little known about (breeding lineage) prior to the race and so difficult to place bets on, but suddenly gains popularity . The Oxford English Dictionary attributes the term “dead heat” to horse racing. Meets formerly had the same horses run several heats in a day, with victors being decided by the total number of wins. A heat which had no clear single winner was discounted from these tallies and was therefore dead.

Here are some examples of the usage of these metaphors . “There is a pack of dark-horse candidates, whose odds of being elected president now approach zero but who remain in the race“, “The Party is ready and champing at the bit for an early election”, “Is the general election becoming a two-horse race between the Labor and Conservatives?”, “Presidential candidates jockey for voting edge among Hispanics”, “Democratic Ticket Runs Neck and Neck “, and “The candidates are in a dead heat“. ” There is too much horse-race coverage on poll numbers, the critics always say, and not enough focus on the issues”, “Consensus among political handicappers is that the President faces a tough reelection campaign in the swing states”.

Unfortunately, politics is not without its flaws. Horse-race reporting or journalism , with it’s focus on polls and campaign winning and losing is often seen as taking attention away from issues. Political handicapping (a.k.a predicting the outcome of candidates) now seems to be everyone’s favorite pastime, especially during the Presidential election year. Handicapping is the term used in horse racing to describe what bookmakers and bettors do when they size up the horses in a race and assign their odds on the likelihood of winning or losing.

Dogs-Underdog, Dogfight, Dog Whistles, To Wag the Dog, Underdog Challenger

Dogs feature prominently in the political lexicon. The following news headline combines both a dog and a horse metaphor. “An underdog eager to race the political thoroughbreds“. The term underdog originated from dog fights where the top dog was the winner and the under dog was the loser. It’s used in the context of politics when the candidate is least fancied to win. More examples of media headlines that use this metaphor are “Battle for control of the Senate will be a dogfight“, “In the political arena an underdog challenger must be creative to force an incumbent to a debate”.

Dogs can hear at much higher frequencies than humans. So dog whistles make sounds at pitches that dogs can hear but humans cannot. Dog-whistle politics metaphorically represents coded messages that only a targeted audience is meant to understand. An example of this is when the ex-President’s opponents would refer to him by his full name as in “Barack Hussein Obama” implying foreignness. “Dog whistles: The secret language politicians are using” is a short analysis by the BBC on other examples in British and American politics.

To wag the dog is to purposely divert attention to something of lesser importance. The “tail wagging the dog” is an idiom that has been in existence since the 1930’s to indicate a situation where a small entity controls a bigger one. To “wag the dog” took on a political connotation after a political satire American comedy with the same name was released in 1997. The plot of the film was around efforts by a spin doctor and Hollywood producer to distract attention from a presidential scandal by fabricating a war.

The story intruded into American politics in 1998 when Bill Clinton’s, scandal regarding Monica Lewinsky broke. Around the same time, he ordered a bombing campaign against Iraq for failing to comply with UN weapons inspectors. Several past presidents have also been accused of wagging the dog. Trump’s airstrike on Syria in 2017 to direct attention away from low approval ratings and investigation about Russian connections has been cited as an example in multiple media stories. Similarly, the senior George Bush’s decision to send troops into Kuwait was widely reported as being a ploy to divert attention from the savings and loan crisis .

Pigs-Pork Barrel Politics, Bringing Home the Bacon, Lipstick on a Pig

Would you think that a pig ending up in a barrel had anything at all do with the funding of questionable projects for self-interest? Prior to refrigerators coming into common use, pork was preserved in large barrels of brine. Some of this salted pork was awarded to plantation slaves who the owners considered the hardest working, and they would scramble to claim their share .

Pork barrel politics refers to politicians supporting legislation by including pet projects that support their local constituents, primarily to promote their chances of re-election. An example is “Would bringing back pork-barrel spending end government shutdowns?” , “Eating High on the Hog: How the Pork Barrel Spending Process Has Changed in the Last 10 Years”, “Stimulus bill is laden with pork”. This saying is used in the same vein as “Bringing home the bacon“.

The phrase “lipstick on a pig” has also been a favorite part of the political verbiage for the past few years. Basically, it means that a pig with lipstick is still a pig ; you can’t cover up something ugly. The phrase shot into political controversy when a prior vice-presidential nominee joked about lipstick as being the difference between hockey moms and pit bulls. When her political competition then used the phrase “If you put lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig “, many interpreted it as a reference subtly comparing the nominee to a pig. The phrase is also often used in politics to criticize health-care or economic policies as in “The latest proposal I see is putting lipstick on a pig”.

Donkeys and Elephants

The donkey and the elephant are symbols for the two major political parties in America -Democrats and Republicans, respectively. However, do not confuse the “donkey vote” to mean voting for a democrat. In Australia, voting is mandatory if you are on the electoral roll. The phrase “donkey vote” is used when the elector casts the ballot in the order in which the candidates were listed on the ballot. The elector may not have had time to research the candidates or simply may not care which candidate ends up getting their vote.

Some news headlines from American media that show the use of symbolism to represent the two political parties are : “Kick-starting the donkey; are the Democrats a serious threat, or not” ,”Straight from the donkey’s mouth“, “Elephant hunt: Why are California Republicans a diminishing species” and “Elephants Never Forget: Congress Moves to Gut Obamacare”.

Other animals and birds

Many other birds and animals too feature in political metaphors. A lame duck is used to convey a politician or government that is on it’s way out of office. There is always a gap between election day and when a newly elected legislature or elected official has to start their session, and sometimes the lame ducks have to vote during their outgoing constitutional session. “Wading into the Lame Duck Legislative Session”, “Lame-Duck Session Churns Out Surprising Successes ” are some examples.

Wild ducks typically fly in a “V” formation, which provides many benefits. Conservation of energy, greater chances of detecting a predator are some of them. A lame duck may fall behind the flock and may be susceptible to being targeted by a hunter or other threat. In a similar fashion, a “lame duck” politician is one who is not keeping up with their peers and has lost political power. On the plus side, they do not have to worry about a re-election .

A Rubber Chicken Circuit is the endless series of public dinners and luncheons politicians must attend to raise funds and make speeches. The food often includes chicken, which is cooked hours earlier and then reheated, giving it a rubbery texture.

A “Political sacred cow” refers to a program or policy that is considered immune to change, as these examples show, “Defense Cuts May No Longer Be Political Sacred Cow” , “Medicare Has Been Treated As A Political Sacred Cow, Immune To Serious Reform, For Too Long” , This reference comes from Hinduism where a cow is considered a sacred animal and is revered and protected.

Cattle calls refer to Presidential candidates in America (typically from a single party) gathering to give speeches . Some examples are “Democrats’ cattle call season gets big, but late, start”, “Candidate cattle calls may help cull the herd”. The phrase was commonly used in theatrical auditions which were open to everyone and may have originated because actors thought they were being referred to as cattle.

Political red meat is rhetoric designed to excite core supporters by candidates. For example, “Supporters Eat Up the Red Meat at Campaign Rally” , “Why doesn’t he offer more in the way of red-meat rhetoric to his audience”. The origins are unclear but some examples have analogized it to feeding a bunch of hungry tigers, getting them all riled up and tearing and chewing at their red meat.

A Whip is the party member who makes sure that all other members are present for crucial votes and that they vote in accordance with the party line. The term originated in British fox hunting, where the “whipper-in” was responsible for keeping the hounds from straying.

The phrase “Kangaroo ticket” in America is used when the running mate for a political Presidential candidate has more political clout. Since Kangaroos have stronger hind legs as compared to their front legs, it is a very apt metaphor.

For many more metaphors, check out my blog post on Boxing Metaphors, Football Metaphors , Baseball Metaphors , Political Metaphors-Part II and Political Metaphors-Part III