ward heeler

170) No, the term is ward heeler and has traditionally referred to party workers who canvass for votes and perform other tasks in support of a party machine.

He rose through the ranks of Democratic politics by building a reputation as both an old-school ward heeler and nimble numbers cruncher.

Clinton campaign allies sued and lost on the matter, and the former President sounded like a Chicago ward heeler as he told reporters about the Obama campaign's voter-intimidation tactics.

Bill's transition from elder statesman, leader of his party and bipartisan ambassador to ward heeler and hatchet man has been seamless - and seamy.

"The only problem with Republicans," cracked the Democratic speaker of the House, whose girth and shock of white hair conjure an image of an old-time ward heeler, "is that there are too damn many of them."

They offered an inducement not at the disposal of every ward heeler, one unique to Beverly Hills: autographed pictures.

Ronald Reagan's path to the Oval Office bore no relation to the ward heeler's progress, and the Secret Service position held by Timothy McCarthy was a decidedly more prestigious law enforcement assignment than walking a beat in Pittsburgh or Chicago.

Then he functions as a giant ward heeler: in one direction rallying his millions of listeners to the right's causes, and in the other telling the party's leaders what the masses are supposedly thinking.

He was an authentic city ward heeler," said longtime Maryland political observer Blair Lee.

I liked Al D'Amato because he looked like a creepy little ward heeler, and he was one.

Its a ward heeler's conception of politics: You deliver for the party; they take care of you.