The Conscience of a King, Act III: The Campaign
All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts….
WS
In today’s act, we hope to bring you to present day. After all, We appreciate your rapt attention as we’ve recounted the events leading up to this act, and we held a brief intermission to let Saturday’s retail politicking occur. We’re glad we did! ‘Moonhowlings reporters delivered a trove of info, which shoned a fair bit more light upon the stage. Just a little bit more recounting, and perhaps a flash-back or two and we promise you quite an entertaining Act 3 of this play. We think a line from Hamlet, Act II, Scene II best describes today’s performance:
The Play’s the thing! Wherein we’ll catch the conscience of a King!
Flashback to the beginning of February. Rewind time. The Carman campaign explodes on the scene, and his signs are first to appear on the set. No one seemed to notice that his signs violated the “30 days prior to the general election” law, or that they lacked the “paid for any authorized by” statement required on each sign, both minor breaches of election law. (Do any rules matter to this crowd?) What people noticed was how many sprang up in a matter of days, like dandelions, and in whose yards they were now prominently displayed. Reports flowed in to ‘Howlings from far afield. Many were in the yards of known uber-conservative activists, most of whom we believe attended the convention. Of particular note, we had a report that Dan Arnold, founder of the Manassas Tea Party, had a sign in his yard. We know he attended the convention: he delivered candidate Ian Lovejoy’s nomination speech.
The speed in which the Carman camp became organized was surprising, especially when you consider his complete lack of previous engagement in local city politics. He must have had one fine handler. Was he provided very targeted lists? Were introductions and meet-and-greets being held? It certainly would appear so. Could this support be coming solely from the Tea Party, or was he receiving help from some members of the political nobility? Perhaps his campaign was a joint effort of nobility and tea.
