Hollywood Popular Artists

Jun 25th 2012, 19:01

45 million 18-29 year olds will be eligible to vote in this year's presidential election, representing the largest potential voting bloc in the country. Learn more about the issues, register to vote and get involved with MTV's Power of 12. Today, we've got another "Jargon Buster" for you.

Incumbent, noun: in politics, the person already in the political position

Are ya ready for another exciting addition to our "Jargon Buster"? It's like studying for the SATs of politics. Today we have the word "incumbent," which comes from the Latin that basically means "to lie down." Hey, tenth grade Latin came in handy! Except, "incumbent" doesn't mean lying down in English; instead, it means something more like "already being firmly in place." If a politician is referred to as an "incumbent," it means he or she is already elected into the position they ran for, whether it's Congress or the Senate or the Presidency. In other words, this November, Barack Obama will be running as the incumbent President, whereas Mitt Romney, the assumed Republican nominee, would not be called "incumbent" because he's never been President.

While it isn't always the case, incumbents usually have a better chance of being elected than the non-incumbents they're running against. It's almost like a joke in the political world. Why the higher success rate? Well, incumbents are already well-known, have already established themselves and (hopefully) are pleasing the people who voted for them. And for all you guys taking Latin out there . . . lying down and sleeping in class does not make you an "incumbent."

Media files:
OBAMAincumbent-Feature.jpg (image/jpeg)
OBAMAincumbent-Post.jpg (image/jpeg)
OBAMAincumbent-Feature-70x53.jpg (image/jpeg)