A system of betting in which the bettor must pick the first
three winners in the correct sequence. Also called triple.
To win a trifecta, you must be very confident of the outcome:
you must pick all the winners correctly, not just one of them.
To win a trifecta, you must have not only a hunch about the
outcome, but at least three correct guesses, and the confidence
to bet on them.
For example, you might hope to pass a draconian law before
Congress can even read it. A long shot, but it could happen.
You might want to take antibiotics weeks before
government anthrax is mailed to Democrats and journalists.
Bit of a long shot, but it could pay off.
You might hope to launch two
unprovoked invasions,
using a false flag operation as a pretext.
Now we're talking
normal U.S. history. That one wasn't too tough.
What do you get when you win a real trifecta at the racetrack?
Is a big money prize intrinsic to the meaning of the word?
1. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/04/20020416-8.html
"The recession -- no question, I remember when I was campaigning,
I said, would you ever deficit spend? And I said, yes, only if there
were a time of war, or recession, or a national emergency. Never
thought we'd get -- (laughter and applause.) And so we have a
temporary deficit in our budget, because we are at war, we're
recovering, our economy is recovering, and we've had a national
emergency. Never did I dream we'd have the trifecta. (Laughter.)"
2. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/06/20020614-8.html
"You know, when I was one time campaigning in Chicago, a reporter
said, would you ever have a deficit? And I said, I can't imagine
it, but there would be one if we had a war, or a national emergency,
or a recession. (Laughter.) Never did I dream we'd get the trifecta.
(Laughter.)"
3. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/06/20020613-11.html
"I remember campaigning and somebody said, would you ever deficit
spend? I said, only if there was a war, or a recession, or a national
emergency. (Laughter.) I didn't think we were going to get the trifecta.
(Laughter.)"
4. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/06/20020607-4.html
"I remember -- I remember campaigning in Chicago, and one of the
reporters said, would you ever deficit spend? I said only -- only
in times of war, in times of economic insecurity as a result of a
recession, or in times of national emergency. Never did I dream
we'd have a trifecta. (Laughter.)"
5. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/05/20020510-3.html
"You know, when I was running for President, in Chicago, somebody
said, would you ever have deficit spending? I said, only if we were
at war, or only if we had a recession, or only if we had a national
emergency. Never did I dream we'd get the trifecta. (Laughter.)"
6. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/05/20020501-2.html
"I remember in Chicago they said to me, would you ever have
deficit spending. I said, only if there was a war, or a national
emergency, or a recession. Never did I realize we'd get the
trifecta. (Laughter.)"
7. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/04/20020429-4.html
"You know, when I was campaigning in Chicago one time, they
said, would you ever have a deficit? I said, I hope not. I
said, I think it's important for us to make -- to work hard
to have a balanced budget. But I said, yes, I'd have a deficit
if I were the President only if we were at war, or in a recession,
or in times of emergency. I didn't think I was going to draw the
trifecta. (Laughter.)"
8. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/04/20020403-1.html
"I remember campaigning in Chicago one time, and the guy said,
would you ever deficit spend? I said, well, only if we were at
war, or the country was in recession, or there was a national
emergency. (Laughter.) I didn't realize we were going to get the
trifecta. (Laughter.)"
9. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/03/20020328.html
"You know, when I was campaigning in Chicago, in the general
election, somebody said, would you ever deficit spend? I said, well,
only if we were at war, or there was a national emergency, or we were
in a recession. Little did I realize we'd get the trifecta. (Laughter.)"
10. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/03/20020327-5.html
"I said, well, under certain circumstances: only if we're at war
or there was a national emergency or there was a recession. Little
did I realize we'd draw the trifecta. (Laughter.)"
11. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/03/20020327-10.html
"I'll never forget one time in Chicago when a reporter said, would
you ever deficit spend? And I said, well, only -- only if we were at
war, only if there were a national emergency, or only if there is a
recession. Never did I believe we'd get the trifecta. (Laughter.)"
12. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/03/20020301-6.html
"You know, I remember campaigning in Chicago and somebody said,
would you ever spend a deficit? And I said, only if we're at war or
we had a recession or there was a national emergency. Little did I
realize we'd get the trifecta. (Laughter.)"
13. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/02/20020227-6.html
"And we've got a job to do at home, as well. You know, I was
campaigning in Chicago and somebody asked me, is there ever any
time where the budget might have to go into deficit? I said only
if we were at war or had a national emergency or were in recession.
(Laughter.) Little did I realize we'd get the trifecta. (Laughter.)
But we're fine."
14. http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/speeches/natl_press_club.html
"DANIELS: Have not set a target figure. The president had said,
throughout his campaign and long before these events were visible
to us, that he hoped to always operate in the black and, in fact,
at levels beyond the Social Security surplus, but that there were
three conditions under which a deficit would be acceptable. Those
being war, recession or emergency. And as he said to me, shortly
after the 11th, "Lucky me, I hit the trifecta.""
It is noteworthy not only that Bush made no such
promise during his campaign, but also that
his opponent did.
SirDave@SirDave.com
Brad Carlton provides more context
here.