Marble Falls      Sitting in the KABF studio office yesterday, the Local 100 staff was borrowing their conference table for a meeting with some of the City of Little Rock stewards.  There are more elections on the upcoming calendar than just the federal ones, so after talking about the local races the conversation drifted over to the headlines about the Alaska Senate race.  Fearful of seeing the Republicans lose a seat that they had taken for granted in this snowbound, but deep red state, the Justice Department and the New York Times are having a conniption fit over the fact there are two candidates with similar names that might draw votes away from their guy towards the Democratic candidate.  The Times has even invented a name for this trick:  vote stacking.  Around the table, we all couldn’t stop laughing.  This political tactic is as old as the hills, at least in the South, and I’d be surprised if it’s not common just about everywhere in the US – and the world.  What’s the big deal?

Personally, I can remember sitting in a booth at the Walgreen’s on Little Rock’s Main Street, which was quite a gathering stop over 50 years ago for some of the old pols and hangers on who were sharing intel, tips, and gossip about the scene.  The main attraction was Max Allison, may be rest in peace, who was a legendary behind the scenes campaigner, adviser, and fixer in state and local politics back to when he had masterminded the election of Wilber Mills, at the time the powerhouse chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, and part of the reason that I had found myself in Arkansas in the first place.  If I heard the story of how he had scuttled the campaign of arch-segregationist rabble rouser Jim Johnson for governor in 1956 once, then I heard in twenty times, and someone like longtime Gazette statehouse reporter Ernie Dumas probably knows it even with more chapter and verse having heard it a hundred times and been a witness of sorts as well.  In short, one of the tricks up Max’s sleeve had been recruiting some ol´ boy from out in the state whose name was of course also Jim Johnson to qualify as a candidate. Needless to say, no one could see what Max called “the fine hand” behind the scenes or prove any connection, even though everyone knew this was simply hardball politics.

In Alaska, true to form, they are pointing the finger at the Democratic candidate, Mary Peltola, and in textbook fashion for this tactic, she “cleared the air” and claimed she had no knowledge of the party’s efforts.  Trump’s Justice Department must know they can paper the walls with subpoenas, but they will never be able to nail this down.  This is also part of the routine playbook for this tactic.  It’s about one party trying to blame the other party and its candidate for slick dealing and hoping there are one or two goody two-shoes out there that might be offended by the tactic, so that it cost the other side a couple of votes.

Friends and neighbors, there is nothing illegal about any qualified voter running for office.  If you want to stop it, then don’t put forth people with common names.  Otherwise, stop whining and turn out your vote like the big boys and girls do.  If it’s any comfort to the handwringers out there, none of this really works.  The votes impacted are miniscule and marginal.  Get over it!  This is old school.  Learn the lesson, and do your job.