HIGH GROUND

noun (Politics) A position of superiority or advantage (especially one which is likely to accord with public opinion) in a debate, conflict, election campaign, etc. Etymology: A metaphorical use of a military phrase whose literal meaning is 'a naturally elevated area providing a strategic advantage to the side which occupies it in a battle'. History and Usage: The American writer Tom Wolfe attributes this figurative use to Lyndon Johnson in a speech about the US space programme in the late fifties, in which he supposedly said punningly that whoever controlled the high ground of space would control the world; however, although this was certainly the sentiment of his speech, it is not clear whether he actually used the phrase high ground. High ground really only became a popular political catch-phrase in the eighties; it is used mainly by journalists to describe a position which gives an individual or party the greatest visibility or appearance of right-mindedness in a debate--a position which might or might not accord with any absolute notions of rightness. As such, it seems to fit in well with the excessively opinion-conscious politics of the eighties. Often it is preceded by an explanatory adjective such as moral, intellectual, or electoral. Her [Nancy Reagan's] seizure of the high ground in the fight against drug abuse has done much to reverse her immense unpopularity. The Times 9 Jan. 1987, p. 7 Why didn't he take the high ground, and argue in favour of universal state benefits and services as ends in themselves? Sunday Telegraph 30 Oct. 1988, p. 24