caucus race

Etymology 1
From +.

Noun

 * 1)  The competitive process in which a political party selects their candidate, especially presidential; a primary election via caucus.
 * 2)  A political competition; the game of campaigning and one-upmanship to get votes and be elected.
 * 1)  A political competition; the game of campaigning and one-upmanship to get votes and be elected.

Translations

 * French:
 * Spanish: carrera en comité, precandidatura,, primera ronda

Etymology 2
From + ; a reference to Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, chapter III "A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale", being a nonsensical satire thereof: all participants have to run in circles until an arbitrary end is called and everyone is declared a winner; Alice has to give prizes to them all, and being declared a winner too, the Dodo solemnly takes her thimble and awards it back to her.

Alternative forms

 * caucus-race, Caucus-race (original text), Caucus-Race or Caucus Race (erroneously)

Noun



 * 1)  A laborious but arbitrary and futile activity; an activity that amounts to running around in a circle, expending great energy but not accomplishing anything.
 * 2) * 1955 October 17, "The Dodo's Dance", in Time magazine:
 * With the dominant figure in U.S. politics forced to the sidelines for—perhaps—the rest of the year, the national political situation last week began to take on the unreal air of the Dodo's caucus race.
 * 1) * 1975 February 17, John Rossouw, "To the Editors", in Time magazine:
 * The American economic system is beginning to resemble the caucus race in Alice in Wonderland. Is it not something of a contradiction to cut taxes to facilitate the resurgence of buying power that will increase the demand for appliances and, especially, vehicles —and at the same time enforce a reduction in demand for the petroleum fuels that must drive the cars and power the machines that will manufacture the appliances?
 * 1) A win-win system; a positive system in which everybody wins.
 * 1) A win-win system; a positive system in which everybody wins.

Translations

 * French: