'Politics ain't beanbag'
"Politics ain't beanbag." It's the archaic way of saying 鈥渓ife is rough; get over it鈥� to a politician who receives bruising treatment from opponents, critics, or the media. A beanbag, obviously, doesn鈥檛 hurt when you throw it at someone.
It dates back to 1895, when writer Finley Peter Dunne used it as a quote from his fictional character Mr. Dooley, an Irishman who pontificated on the day鈥檚 issues from a Chicago pub. 鈥淪ure, politics ain鈥檛 bean-bag,鈥� Dooley proclaimed. 鈥淭is a man鈥檚 game, an鈥� women, childer, cripples an鈥� prohybitionists鈥檇 do well to keep out iv it.鈥�
Pundits have kept the expression alive. Just before Tuesday鈥檚 election, syndicated columnist Mark Shields 鈥淚f Nov. 4 turns out to be a blue-ribbon day for Republicans, Obama will painfully learn once more the timeless wisdom of Peter Finley Dunne.鈥� And after the election, The New York Post鈥檚 Bob McManus New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) for running a campaign that was 鈥渢huggish, hypocritical and utterly without principal鈥� before adding: 鈥淏ig deal: Politics ain鈥檛 beanbag, as the Irish used to say, and Andrew Mark Cuomo woke up Wednesday morning sitting right where it matters most 鈥� in the catbird seat.鈥�
But politicians often employ it, too. When Fox News鈥檚 Sean Hannity asked Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R) about the characterization of him and Utah Sen. Mike Lee (R) as 鈥渨acko birds鈥� in 2013, Cruz responded: 鈥淵ou know, listen, at the end of the day, you know, the old saying is: Politics ain鈥檛 beanbag. And fortunately, neither Mike nor I have thin skins.鈥� Some mistakenly pluralize it, as Mitt Romney did in 2012 in talking about his then-presidential primary rival Newt Gingrich: 鈥淭here鈥檚 no question that politics ain鈥檛 beanbags.... The speaker has been attacking me all over the state in ways that are really extraordinary; in some respects, painful to watch because it鈥檚 so revealing of him.鈥�
Chuck McCutcheon and David Mark write their "Speaking Politics" blog exclusively for Decoder Voices.聽
