The Dick Trick
You've heard of Dirty Tricks. Call this the Dopey Trick.
Two men whose names are eerily similar will appear side by side on the Aug. 8 Democratic primary ballot. One is a political novice with ties to the Republican Party; the other is the House Minority Leader.
Richard A. Gephardt, 12-term congressional veteran from St. Louis, who hopes to preside as speaker next year over a chamber returned to his party's control, will be running in Missouri's primary against Richard A. Gebhardt, 65, a political newcomer better known to Republicans in his home area than Democrats.
| Gephardt Strikes Back In Jefferson City, Mo., Dick Gephardt filed last-minute paperwork to distinguish his name from that of his sound-alike challenger. The congressman's campaign changed his ballot listing to Richard A. (Dick) Gephardt, adding "Dick." The notarized paperwork for the ballot name change was submitted without fanfare and was accepted about 20 minutes before filing closed. |
For his part, the congressman said in a statement: "I have faith in the Democratic process and think that the voters will see through the Republicans' dirty tricks."
Gephardt noted that Gebhardt had filed on Monday for the Democratic nomination for the adjoining Second District congressional seat, and that the Missouri GOP chairwoman, Ann Wagner, disavowed any state party role in that filing.
Wagner said Monday that if the GOP wanted to play tricks, "we would have filed this guy in the Third" - the race to which Gebhardt switched on Tuesday.
Asked why he changed races, Gebhardt replied: "Because I'd rather file against Gephardt than the people over in the Second."
Asked specifically why he was running against Gephardt, Gebhardt snapped: "Goodbye, have a nice day. It's going to take me a while to get over the deaths in my family. I'm not trying to be cute, I'm just trying to get my wits back together.
"I haven't had much sleep in the last four or five weeks. We've had a lot of problems in the family, deaths and everything. I'm not really in the mood for talking," he said.
No information was immediately available regarding the deaths to which the candidate was referring.
When Gebhardt tried to pay his $100 Democratic filing fee at a table outside the secretary of state's office, the party's executive director, Roy Temple, handed him a letter formally questioning how long Gebhardt had been a Democrat.
Gebhardt told Temple: "I have been independent but I'm going Democrat." The secretary of state's office accepted the filing fee instead of the party, along with Temple's letter.
After he finished filig, Gebhardt rejected further questions.
"I'm going to disappear tonight," he said. "I need to have time alone."
On Tuesday, the GOP activist publisher of the St. Charles-Warren County Republican, Roland Wetzel said, "Mr. Gebhardt is on my circulation list and we provide the newspaper free to any Republican in St. Charles or Warren County."
Wetzel said Gebhardt signed up for the publication during a meeting of the local chapter of the Pachyderms, a Republican club.
"The reason I remember him attending the Pachyderms meetings is because of his name," state Rep. Cindy Ostmann, R-St. Peters, said in a separate interview. "When I first heard the name, of course you knew who I thought it was I thought it was the Democratic congressman at a Republican meeting!"
Residency in the district isn't a requirement to run for Congress. While listing a St. Peters street address on his filing paperwork, Gebhardt offered as his mailing address a post office box in Gephardt's district.
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