Astroturf
An astroturf campaign is a fake grassroots campaign — a political campign orchestrated by a big money-funded Washington-based organization that pays for organizers and advertisements in local markets in swing states. This is my new favorite term for a political activity.
I read about it in the context of an interesting Post article on the advocacy battle over the Alito Supreme Court nomination. Read the article (also note the excellent collection of Alito nomination coverage linked from the article):
- Alito Advocacy Fills Air of Swing States (Washington Post)