political football

noun

: an issue that politicians argue about and try to use for their advantage

This issue is too important to be treated as a political football.

Examples of political football in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

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Here are four things to know about this perennial political football. —

Scott Horsley, NPR, 20 Dec. 2024 Prior to that, the date of Thanksgiving was a bit of a political football. —

Shelby Slade, The Arizona Republic, 19 Nov. 2024 Two hurricanes and a strike at Boeing torpedoed the number of jobs employers added in October, creating a potential political football for the Harris campaign in the closing days of the presidential election on the most important issue to most voters preparing to cast a ballot. —

Austin Denean, Baltimore Sun, 3 Nov. 2024 Teams are also preparing for reactive scenarios — such as how to respond if they get roped into a culture war, used as a political football or singled out in an X post. —

Eleanor Hawkins, Axios, 21 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for political football

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“Political football.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/political%20football. Accessed 30 Dec. 2024.

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