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Common political parlance identifies a DARK HORSE as one who comes out of nowhere in an election to win the fight over highly touted or favored candidates. The allusion to a horse race is not coincidental. Very often, political fights are described as contests much like racing derbies.

Legend has it that a canny horse trader made a living out of racing a coal-black horse – and winning almost all the time. Said horse trader would go from town to town where he and the horse were unknown and arrange horse races against the local favorites. The locals never knew that they were up against a veteran horse that had won more than its share of races.

The color black also lends a sense of foreboding and the unknown. Thus, when the language of the track eventually made its way into the smoke-filled rooms of political warlords, the term Dark Horse gradually came to describe a relatively unknown politician gunning for a position, but having a fair chance of being elected.

sourced by JMJF