throw red meat
v.— «The gay-marriage issue could create a minor sideshow to Kerry’s formal nomination and keep the conservative Republican base energized during a time when the national political spotlight will be on Kerry, not Bush. Congressional aides have referred to it as throwing “red meat” to the base.» —“Senate debates gay marriage ban this week” by Stephen Koff Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) July 11, 2004. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
What kind of book do people ask for most often in prison? Romance novels? No. The Bible? No. The most requested books by far are … dictionaries! A number of volunteer organizations gather and distribute used dictionaries to help inmates with...
What if, instead of being an inanimate object, a dictionary were alive? That’s the idea behind a lavishly illustrated new children’s book called The Dictionary Story (Bookshop|Amazon) by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston. This is part of a...