Due to Republican gerrymandering, the district had a large black majority and had been easily carried by the Party of Lincoln two years earlier, but everyone in the parish believed the seat would now be hotly contested. The previous year’s presidential elections had convinced much of the white community, and its sinister elements, that they could sway the electorate in their favor, even in areas where they theoretically had a significant numeric disadvantage. The old-order political leaders and night riders had perfected their trade and learned how to employ tactics to achieve these results. Their methods included every form of political chicanery and intimidation imaginable: bribery, economic and employment reprisals, whippings, and even murder of potential voters. The chilling visions of Douglas’s own dream, the nightmarish whipping at the hands of the clan, which still wetted his palms, reminded him of the persuasiveness of violence, even for third-party observers. Both parties exploited the political machine itself to their means.
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