It’s Tuesday, the traditional day for elections and for our pause-and-consider newsletter on politics and policy. We think of it as a mini-magazine in your inbox.

THE POLITICAL WORD OF THE YEAR
By Lisa Desjardins, @LisaDNews
Correspondent
 
Happy Thanksgiving Week everyone, a time where many gather in gratitude to break bread and test their relationships with extended conversation. Politics has given us more than we need to talk about, frankly. Let’s find a constructive and — if you can imagine — fun way to go about that.
 
This weekend Merriam-Webster will announce its choice for 2023 “word of the year.”
 
Our thought: Let’s talk turkey over what should be the political word or phrase of 2023. See what the people at your dining room table think. 
 
We’d like to hear from you! Tell us which word (below) you think should win, or send your suggestions for a different word here.
 
Our finalists for 2023 Political Word of the Year are:
 
CIRCUS
Usually a trope when applied to politics, the word “circus” in 2023 flexed some authentic muscle. The 15-ballot race for House speaker in January, the unprecedented ousting of that speaker in October, the failure of three high-profile Republican nominees to clinch the job, and the rise of the relatively unknown Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana into the speakership sparked weeks of legislative chaos and so many headlines using the word “circus” (“clowns” was runner-up) that we had to stop Googling. 
 
EXHAUSTION
The past decade of divide laid the groundwork. But the chaos of 2023 and the potential of a 2020 presidential rematch have added up to one word we hear and say repeatedly: exhaustion. Voters everywhere are exhausted. And stressed. Our pets may be too. Americans apparently are worried more than ever about anxiety in our dogs, according to the Atlantic. Speaker Johnson may be in his job because his fellow Republicans were exhausted by their own indecision. We have grown tired of politics for many years. Now, America seems exhausted by it.
 
INDICTMENT
The country has witnessed lawmakers in criminal trouble throughout history. But not on this level. Never has a former president been indicted before, but in four cases this year, former President Donald Trump was indicted on 91 felony counts. Also, sitting members of both congressional chambers face indictments. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., is accused of bribery, corruption and money laundering, and Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., faces charges of conspiracy, fraud and lying to investigators.  
 
“MTV”
This acronym escaped its 1980s Music Television identity in 2023 and earned political stripes as the “motion to vacate,” or legislative MTV, changed fortunes on Capitol Hill. Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., came into power after agreeing to allow any single member of the House to raise this motion to vacate the chair, meaning oust the speaker. And it was his undoing. This term may still have a substantial future in 2024: Speaker Johnson is in the job but it still only requires a single member to call for a vote on vacating the chair.
 
PUNT
This year, lawmakers have faced fiscal deadline after fiscal deadline with firm resolve — to put off tough decisions. In September, and then again this month, Congress passed Band-Aid bills to keep government funded for a few weeks or months at a time. And in June, Congress  and the White House raised the debt ceiling until 2025. That deal had slightly more teeth to it, but still puts off the reckoning over America’s red ink. Zooming out, as Joe Biden and Trump lead their parties’ nomination battles, both political parties are, at the moment, seeming to punt on who should be in their next generation of leadership.  
 
Chew on it. Talk it over. Then, we want to hear from you. Vote on your favorite word of the year (or suggest your own). Fill out this Google form. Let us know what you and those around you pick. We’ll select some of our favorites for next week’s newsletter.