Political Suicide in the United States

Political Suicide (in Politics)

Related to political science, the following is a definition of Political Suicide in the U.S. practice of politics: An unpopular action that is likely to cause a politician’s subsequent defeat at the polls or be cause for him or her to resign from public office.

However, as William Safire notes in Safire’s Political Dictionary, “these suicides, like the report of Mark Twain’s death, are usually exaggerations. Actions unpopular on their face can be take as evidence of courage.”