10 political words we should use more often

From snollygoster to mugwump

Taegan Goddard

The U.S. Senate held a vote-a-rama last weekend. The word describes how lawmakers dispatched with 101 amendments over 13 hours of consideration of the federal budget. But we haven't heard it very often because this is the first budget the Senate has passed in four years.

It's a great word unique to politics, and there are dozens more that should be used more often.

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Taegan Goddard

Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political websites. He also runs Wonk Wire and the Political Dictionary. Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and COO of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. senator and governor. Goddard is also co-author of You Won — Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including The Washington Post, USA TodayBoston Globe, San Francisco ChronicleChicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, and Christian Science Monitor. Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.