Anything for A Vote: Mudslinging, Character Assassination, and Other
Presidential Election Strategies

a non-partisan multimedia lecture

Dirty Tricks, Cheap Shots and October Surprises

The 2008 presidential election promises to be the most fiercely contested such contest in half a century—already political pundits are expressing shock and disappointment as candidates resort to negative campaigning. But as Joseph Cummins’ book, Anything for A Vote: Dirty Tricks, Cheap Shots and October Surprises in U.S. Presidential Campaigns reveals, smear campaigns are as much a part of our democratic process as our flag and constitution.

Cummins’ multimedia lecture takes off from today’s headlines to embark on a fascinating, funny and sometimes shocking tour through the dirtiest game of all: American presidential politics.
Tailored to reflect events currently happening in the 2008 campaigns, Cummins’s lectures are immensely relevant, providing insight into why the candidates act they way they do and giving historical perspective to the backstabbing and infighting. Covering everything from the three (possibly four) stolen presidential elections in American history to the Top Ten Classic Campaign Smears, his program provides a perfect evening for political junkies and casual voters alike.

Highlights include:

1836: Congressman Davy Crockett—the Ann Coulter of his time—accuses candidate Martin Van Buren of secretly wearing women's clothing: "He is laced up in corsets such as women in the town wear!"
1964: President Lyndon Johnson bugs Republican candidate Barry Goldwater’s campaign plane, using CIA agent E. Howard Hunt. As if that isn’t enough, he has his staff secretly prepare and distribute a coloring book for children, where the little ones could color in pictures of Goldwater in Ku Klux Klan robes.
2004: Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell -- the supposedly impartial overseer of elections in his state -- spends much of his energies keeping minority voters out of the voting booths. He then sends this missive to Republican party faithful under the letterhead of the Ohio Secretary of State:  

"Without your enthusiasm, generous support and vote, I'm afraid the President would have lost and an unapologetic liberal Democrat named John Kerry would have won. Thankfully, you and I stopped that disaster from happening."

Bio
Formerly Creative Director of the Quality Paperback Book Club, Joseph Cummins is the author of The Snow Train, a novel, and numerous works of history, including History’s Great Untold Stories: Larger Than Life Characters and Dramatic Events That Changed the World, Turn Around and Run Like Hell: Amazing Stories of Unconventional Military Strategies That Worked, and the forthcoming First Encounters with Unknown Peoples: Epic True Stories of Collision and Conquest.