Final Word from Thursday, November 28, 2013
Bohuslav Sobotka has been in top politics for more than 15 years, but the height of his career thus far came during the roughly 15 days it took to squash the internal party putsch against him. He was at his absolute best for those two weeks. He stuck to message, tapped his hidden inner strength and won a large portion of the population over to his side, including many people who normally harbor strong objections to him. It's understandable that the post-putsch period should be somewhat anticlimactic, but the way Sobotka is allowing Andrej Babiš to run circles around him raises the question of whether Sobotka's career won't take the same course as Karolína Peake's. Her biggest 15 minutes of fame came when she served for eight days as defense minister. After she was ousted from that post on Dec. 20 of last year, she couldn't even get the time of day from PM Petr Nečas, and her political career lasted only another six months. If Sobotka's career followed a similar path, it would give him until next spring's EU elections. [Czech Republic ANO coalition European Union ČSSD]
Glossary of difficult words
to peak - to reach a highest point, either of a specified value or at a specified time;
to squash - to suppress, stifle or subdue;
to stick to message - to consistently use the same arguments to drive a point home;
to tap - to exploit or draw from a source;
to harbor - to keep in one's mind;
to run circles around someone - to outrun or outdo (alluding to someone who runs fast enough to run in circles around a competitor and still win the race);
to oust - to drive out or expel someone from a position.