Sunrise, Sunset

Guerrilla stickers stick again. These Obama sunrise logos are appearing on street signs in Georgia, Virginia, and North Carolina. (Created by ad agency BooneOakley, the decals are apparently free at GObamaNC.com.)

Does this qualify as mischief, pernicious or otherwise? Dunno! Here's another question: Are there any sticker campaigns going on from the opposing party?

Unlikely Voters and Time-Honored Accusations

According to NPR, Ohio Republicans are accusing Democrats of using free alcohol and concert tickets to get “unlikely voters" to register. (Unlikely voters are identified as "students and the homeless"!)

Does this sound familiar? Tell me it rings a bell.
Above: A Prohibition photo of government agents pouring liquor into a sewer following a 1921 raid in New York. From the Library of Congress.

Campaign Blast from the Past: The County Election

In 1852, Missouri-native George C. Bingham completed "The County Election" (detail, right). The painting portrayed free liquor being poured, inebriated voters propped up at the polling place, bought votes, and a glad-handing politican (in top-hat).
You might think (like I did) that Bingham had a jaundiced view of the questionable Whig tradition of providing voters with free liquor. Not so; Bingham was a Whig!

So where we see ethics violations, this was actually Bingham's way of paying tribute to the will of the people. He wasn't necessarily condoning the hubbub, but there is a spirit of celebration surrounding the democratic spectacle. (Or so say Bingham's biographers.)

George Bingham had political aspirations of his own, serving as State Treasurer of Ohio from 1862-6 and running unsuccessfully for Congress.

And while his Whig affiliation dates him, Bingham was ahead of his time in one respect; he anticipated the rise of heavy metal with this detail from "The Jolly Flatboatmen" (1846).

* My sources are here.