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
Quiz Guy John Chaneski serves up a Common Bonds puzzle, in which the object is to guess the common idea in each of three things. For example, what’s the one word that connects a grade on a report card, USDA inspected beef, and an incline? This...