political football

noun

: an issue that politicians argue about and try to use for their advantage

This issue is too important to be treated as a political football.

Examples of political football in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Doing something about low reading scores was a political football for years until, just recently, the state finally declared a preference for using phonics to teach reading — a rare bit of progress. —Dan Walters, Mercury News, 21 Mar. 2026

Whether flying to San Diego to spend time in the sun or to Omaha for a business meeting, American passengers should not be used as a political football. —Jackson Shedelbower, Oc Register, 11 Mar. 2026

Establishing a county-level OIGE would turn education into a political football — injecting exactly the kind of politics our schools do not need. —Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 6 Feb. 2026

Now Good's death is set to be turned into another political football with the Land of 10,000 Lakes once again being the possible ground zero of civil unrest ahead of a critical election, political observers say. —Phillip M. Bailey, USA Today, 11 Jan. 2026

Rhymes for political football

• mercaptoethanol
• aerosol
• alcohol
• arbitral
• basketball
• butanol
• cannonball
• carbinol
• catarrhal
• cortisol
• ethanol
• fireball