Political

Question 1

Lame Duck (noun)

Answer 1

the political term for an elected official who is in the period between when they are still in office but awaiting the inauguration of the successor (either through a recent loss in an election or because of term limits) is spiking this evening. It is January 12th, 2016, and President Barack Obama, currently a lame duck himself, is giving his final State of the Union address.

Question 2

mugwump (noun)

Answer 2

1 : a bolter from the Republican party in 1884
2 : a person who is independent (as in politics) or who remains undecided or neutral
Examples

“[Woodrow] Wilson was representative of a moderate progressivism that existed in the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early part of this one. He was a mugwump reacting negatively to the new, industrialist class, but maintaining a strong belief in the triumph of American ideals and progress.” — Hans Vought, The Journal of American Ethnic History, Spring 1994

Question 3

cronyism (noun)

Answer 3

the unfair practice by a powerful person (such as a politician) of giving jobs and other favors to friends