Word: backroom
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...When I heard that the woman whose picture hung in my basement in the 1980s had become a backroom politico, I felt for the very first time that God had a reason for having me work at TIME magazine. Standing near the pastry table at 8:30 a.m., I looked up to see Thomas, 50, descending the stairwell like someone who could still sell a lot of posters. "O.K.! We're starting!" she screamed, followed by "Sorry, I yelled in your ear." A bit starstruck, I may have awkwardly responded, "I kind of liked it." To which she said, "Some...
...like sore thumbs, but they’re quick learners. When we walk the crowded streets, people run after us trying to sell overpriced trinkets and “real” Coach handbags that they show you only on paper. (“Please friend, come to the backroom to see!") MacDuff, for all his vices, rightfully told us to beware of the “hockers” the first day. (I thought he said “hookers...
...backroom poker player, on the other hand, is more cautious and self-absorbed. Card games may be social, but they are played in solitude. No need for drama. The quiet card counter is king, and only a novice banks on luck. In this game, a good bluff trumps blind faith, and the studied observer beats the showman. So it is fitting that the presumptive Democratic nominee, Barack Obama, raked in so many pots in his late-night games with political friends...
...government's knife-edge victory saw 36 Labour MPs, including former ministers, oppose the government, and relied on the support of nine members of the Northern Ireland Democratic Unionist Party. Brown and the DUP politicians have firmly rejected suggestions that their votes were secured through backroom deals. But there is no denying that government whips (MPs who act as the party's disciplinarians) worked up to the last minute cajoling and arm-twisting colleagues into toeing the party line...
...transition may not be an easy one. Cowen takes charge in anxious economic times, and like Brown, he could suffer from being rather less charismatic than his predecessor. Whereas Ahern loved working the crowds, Cowen has built his reputation as a backroom politician. "He likes a smoke, which you don't see from a lot of politicians these days," says a government official who used to work for him. "And he's not the sort of politician who can't walk past a camera. He's almost indifferent to the media. It'll be interesting to see if anyone tries...