What is "political hack"

n. a politician who belongs to a small clique that controls a political party for private rather than public ends [syn: machine politician, ward-heeler, hack]

A political hack is a negative term ascribed to a person who is part of the political party apparatus, but whose intentions are more aligned with victory than personal conviction. The term "hired gun" is often used in tandem to further describe the moral bankruptcy of the "hack". When a group of political hacks of a similar political affiliation get together, they are sometimes called a political hack pack. When one side of a debate has more political hacks than the other, this is referred to as a "hack gap" and gives an advantage to the side with more political hacks.