Is it too much to ask not to put the country through that kind of cynical exercise yet again?

And, as we have all too clearly seen, they utterly dominate our democratic process, reducing it to a cynical exercise in mass manipulation.

The opposition condemned ministers for a cynical exercise which they knew would fail.

This is a deeply cynical exercise in uncosted but attractive promises.

The decision to focus attention on Watergate, hailed by the media as their proudest moment, was yet another cynical exercise in the service of power.

A genuine miracle or a cynical exercise in fraud?

The movement to repeal the estate tax has been a cynical and fraudulent exercise.

Audience members who head for the exits an hour into this cynical exercise might feel differently.

Now, however, the reform looks more like a cynical exercise.

The test of which view is correct - genuine commitment or a cynical exercise - will be the special summit on employment.