The uproar over the Dan Sullivans stunt in Alaska is this year's most famous political dirty trick.

The Department of Justice announced last Friday it is conducting civil and criminal investigations that include possible conspiracy to dupe Alaska voters because of two Senate candidates who share nearly identical names. One is incumbent Sen. Daniel S. Sullivan, the other, Daniel J. Sullivan, a retired teacher, who has not been campaigning.

The New York Times, notably not a fan of Republicans in its news coverage and editorials, broke a story which it headlined: "Inside Democrats' Secret Effort to Stack Alaska's Ballot: Operatives aligned with Mary Peltola, the Democratic nominee for Senate, spent months recruiting candidates to peel votes from Senator Dan Sullivan, the Republican."

This is familiar stuff to veteran political observers.

People old enough to remember the Richard Nixon years will recall some of the dirty tricks used by his campaign operatives. A Google search recalls some of the more outrageous ones:

- Infiltration of opposing campaigns, illegal wiretapping, and bugging of political headquarters (including the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate........

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