Player (political)

A political player is a participant in politics who has or is perceived to have influence or power, although usually on a smaller level than a global power elite. The phrase may refer to an individual who is a candidate or elected or appointed official (such as Hillary Clinton) [ [http://www.whrnet.org/docs/perspective-eisenstein-0610.html Zillah Eisenstein, "Hillary's War", Ithaca College, October 2006] , retrieved Dec. 12, 2007] , but more commonly refers to someone who is not in office but still wields power or influence, such as a lobbyist [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/28/AR2007092801350.html M. Kamdar, "Forget the Israel Lobby. The Hill's Next Big Player Is Made in India." Washington Post, Sept. 30, 2007, p. B03] , retrieved Jan. 31, 2008] , a fundraiser [ [http://www.washingtonian.com/blogarticles/Media%20&%20Politics/capitalcomment/4837.html S. Kulkarni & G. Graff, "Fundraiser Headliners Familiar Faces To Thompson", July 31, 2007] (listing attendees at a Fred Thompson $1000/plate event)] or contributor [ [http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635209449,00.html Lee Davidson and Bob Bernick Jr., "Handful give lots of $$: Top 10 political donors have big impact in Utah," Deseret Morning News, May 22, 2006] , retrieved 02-09-2008] , a political consultant [ [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/11/15/i-see-your-markos-moulits_n_72839.html R. Sklar, "I See Your Markos Moulitsas, And I Raise You a...KARL ROVE?", Huffington Post, 11-15-2007] , retrieved on 02-09-2008] , a labor union [ [http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/davidcorn/2008/01/hillary-gets-a-bad-deal-in-veg.html D. Corn, "Hillary Gets a Bad Deal in Vegas--and Is Right To Complain", davidcorn.com, -1-14-2008] ] or labor leader [ [http://boomers.msn.com/articleMORE.aspx?cp-documentid=377174K. Breslau, "Rose Ann DeMoro: Labor Leader & Political Player", Originally published in MORE magazine, September 2006] , retrieved Dec. 12, 2007] , a corporation [ [http://www.buzzle.com/articles/113493.html "The Search for Influence: Google Becomes a Political Player"] accessed Dec. 12, 2007] , or even an entire industry (such as the pharmaceutical industry) [ [http://www.whrnet.org/docs/perspective-eisenstein-0610.html J. Abraham, "The pharmaceutical industry as a political player," The Lancet, Volume 360, Issue 9344, Pages 1498-1502] , retrieved Dec. 12, 2007] . More recently, with the rise of the Internet, web-based groups such as Moveon.org and onlune organizations like ActBlue have become political players as well [ [http://www.actblue.com/content/latimes-2007-03-11 Dan Morain, "ActBlue makes giving easy, and it's become a major political player", Los Angeles Times, March 11, 2007, p. A21] ] .

References