run for the exercise
verbEtymology A pun on two senses of run: to run for election and to travel quickly on foot.
1
Government, Politics US, Colloquial To run for political office with little chance of success.
- [I]f Rockefeller wanted to run for the exercise, [Democrats] reasoned, let him kill himself off and clear the way for a more regular Republican in the next election.1959, Candidates 1960 "xxx", Nelson. A Rockefeller, page 53
- BENTSEN: SAYS HE WON'T RUN "FOR THE EXERCISE" "Asked about the 1992 presidential race, Bentsen said he would not run as a sacrificial lamb so that the [Dems] would have a credible candidate and avoid a humiliating defeat"1991, The Hotline, volume 4, numbers 127-148, page 3:
2
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see run, exercise.
- Related terms
- run like a dry creek