You know, Trunk, Luther’s trick

You know, Trunk, Luther’s trick was used in 19th century presidential elections. In the election of 1884 between Grover Cleveland and James Blaine, the Republicans (it was widely believed) subsidized the thrid-party campaign of Peoples’ Party candidate Benjamin Butler, in order to take the populist vote away from the more conservative Cleveland. And the Democrats are believed to have subsidized fourth party candidate John St. John, the Prohibition Party candidate, so that Cleveland would suffer less from the anti “rum” vote. This tactic was considered dirty even in the rough-and-tumble politics of that era.