ground game
n.— «The pairing of White House wannabes with grass-roots activists and local political leaders—a mating dance known in political parlance as the “ground game”—has a serious purpose. Often a relative handful of activists and party regulars determines the outcome of the early primaries and caucuses, which in turn can either launch or torpedo a presidential bid.» —“Presidential candidates court activists” by Holly Ramer, Mike Glover in Concord, New Hampshire mlive.com Nov. 25, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Enthusiastic book recommendations! Martha’s savoring the biography of Alexander von Humboldt, the 19th-century explorer, polymath, and naturalist who revolutionized our understanding of nature and predicted the effects of human activity on...
The words tough, through, and dough all end in O-U-G-H. So why don’t they rhyme? A lively new book addresses the many quirks of English by explaining the history of words and phrases. And: have you ever been in a situation where a group makes...