Lexicon of Politics: Day 58

barnstormer n. Orig. Theat. one who tours small rural towns to give performances; (hence) a politician making a rapid tour delivering campaign speeches, typically in rural areas. Now S.E.

1990 Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minn.) (June 1) 1B:
[Krushchev] proved to be a very good politician, the barnstormer type. Many people said then that if he had run for governor of Iowa, he could have been elected easily. He had that common touch.
oxford dictionary of american political slang