coattaildecay
/ˈkoʊtteɪlˌdɪˌkeɪ/nounVerified NewThe rate at which a national leader's endorsement loses its ability to transfer votes.
Endorsements behave like radioactive isotopes: strong at first, then halving with each cycle of scandal and overuse. Parties that budget for the initial half-life are routinely surprised by the remainder.
Etym. — *coattails* (the political transfer effect) + *decay*, a physics metaphor with half-life precision.
Rel. — endorseflation · primaricide
Novelty check: NEW · checked 2026-11-04
review evidence: wordstoreview/review-batch-2-100-words-2026-11-04.md
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Method: Editorial batch review — per-term live web search + variant checks, per docs/VALIDATION-protocol.md §2