Use of the phrase empty chair, or empty chairing, in relation to the practice of drawing attention to a politician’s refusal to show up, dates at least as far back as 2007, though its realization as an inflected verb seems to be new in the past year. The phrase also hit the headlines in the context of the US election in 2012, when veteran actor Clint Eastwood attracted controversy by conducting an imaginary conversation with Barack Obama during a Republican convention.