Idioms

caucus race

caucus race

1. Any event or activity that requires a great amount of time, energy, and commitment, but which is or is considered to be ultimately futile or arbitrary. A reference to Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, in which everyone in the Caucus race runs around in a circle and then suddenly wins a prize—thus serving no real purpose at all. We were all told that the essay had to cover everything we had learned during the course. But in the end, it was just a caucus race because it didn't even affect our final grade. I have the interns boxing up all those old files that have to be moved to Records. I'm sure they think it's a caucus race, but it really is something we need to get done. All of my studying turned out to be a caucus race when the teacher announced that the test would be open book anyway.
2. An event, system, or activity that benefits all parties involved. Also a reference to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Fair trade competition between our countries will establish itself as a caucus race, as the increased commerce will help bolster both countries' economies. Come on, you've got to sell them on this being a caucus race. They won't help us if they don't think they'll get something out of it. This multi-school fundraiser is a caucus race that will benefit all three schools in the end.
3. A political competition between members of the same party, as for the candidacy to run in an election or a position within the party's infrastructure. Primarily heard in US. The caucus race before the election highlighted the candidates' fundamental differences. We've got to stop that fool at the caucus race—we can't let him gain any more power in the party. A: "Is anyone in the party particularly enthused about this caucus race?" B: "I doubt it. Both candidates are such dullards and so resistant to new ways of thinking."
See also: race
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
See also:
References in periodicals archive
As Elena Ferrante wrote for The Guardian in June, let's recognize that we each represent "privileges of chance" and that "the caucus race that Alice encounters in Wonderland" in which "nobody loses, everybody wins" is our best hope.
In illustrating the Caucus race, and Alice's interactions with the Caterpillar and the mother pigeon, Tenniel and Carroll suggest that the Darwinian model threatens the human identity by placing it in a precarious position within food chains and changing evolutionary patterns.
Immediately following this is the Caucus race, and Tenniel and Carroll provide several illustrations for this scene, each emphasising Alice's unstable human identity and raising questions about natural selection.
(p.11) Another such deviation from real world schema occurs when she meets a talking mouse in Chapter III: A Caucus race and a long tale.
The Caucus race' is a perfect deviation from the normal schema of our real world.
Among specific topics are a seahorse for all races, our unusual unity, the dodo in the Caucus race, non-overlapping magisterial, and the triumph of root-heads.
Liverpool Theatre School student Jamie Barwood has been brought in as choreographer, creating a dance number that tells the Caucus race episode, during which Alice runs an absurd race against a flock of birds of all shapes and sizes.
Apart from grinning cats, murderous queens and mad hatters, she also meets a baby that turns into a pig, a couple of twins who can't stop arguing and a mouse and a dodo who insists that she take part in a Caucus race.
And if you don't know what a Caucus race is then you might want to think about joining what is being promised is an evening of absolute nonsense with Off The Ground''s latest production.
So they followed a dream of jobs and wealth down a rabbit hole, encountered multiple sets of locked legislative doors, and finally found themselves in a kind of caucus race, circling the track and one another with no clear purpose or winner.
Gordon Brown is obviously Wonderland's Caucus Race.
In next year's A-level caucus race, the pass rate must be 100% at least.
Layla Dawson has heroically dived headfirst into the filthy maelstrom to find herself surrounded by creatures at least as bizarre as those encountered by Alice in the Caucus Race, but they are, for the most part, a great deal more nasty and less endearing than Lewis Carroll's characters.
Stratford District Council chairman John Winterburn has organised a caucus race in aid of his two charities, Temple Grafton Church roof and the Leprosy Mission.
He said he got the idea from the dodo's caucus race in the children's book.
Copyright © 2003-2025 Farlex, Inc Disclaimer
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.