The Carville Trick

The Clinton consultant found a way to win the South for the Democrats--the lottery. But is it fair?

The idea goes back 11 years, to an obscure candidate for Governor of Kentucky named Wallace Wilkinson and his then obscure political consultant, James Carville. Wilkinson was going nowhere, badly trailing his better-known opponents in the Democratic primary. Then, in a debate in Louisville, he proposed instituting a lottery and using the money for education. The next day his wife returned from a day of campaigning and reported that everywhere she went, people told her they loved the idea. Wilkinson went on to win, closing his campaign with a commercial that showed a crowd chanting, "Taxes, no! Lottery, yes!" Carville went...

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