| Noun | 1. | coattails effect - (politics) the consequence of one popular candidate in an election drawing votes for other members of the same party; "he counted on the coattails effect to win him the election"consequence, effect, result, upshot, outcome, event, issue - a phenomenon that follows and is caused by some previous phenomenon; "the magnetic effect was greater when the rod was lengthwise"; "his decision had depressing consequences for business"; "he acted very wise after the event" | |