play dead
v. phr.— «Still more fiendish is the strategy of “playing dead,” again supposedly being employed by the Conservatives. According to a series of pundits, Conservative leader Michael Howard has avoided saying directly in recent days that his party can defeat Blair’s Labour Party, the current clear favourites. By creating an atmosphere in which a Labour landslide is presumed, the theory goes, many Labour supporters will stay at home or lodge a protest vote against Blair, perhaps allowing the Conservatives to sneak a narrow win, the infamous “back door victory.”» —“British elections a treat for political linguists” by Peter Walker in London, England Sify (India) Apr. 28, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
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