The Shadow Boss of Washington Politics
A political operative creates a 'campaign committee' to mask his influence after intense public backlash from his own party.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Tacoma, Sept. 14—George Hazzard is now 'incog.' He told his haters today that if he must boss the Democratic campaign, his personality must be masked by a 'campaign committee.' So, to please those who hate Hazzard and ate crow yesterday, the Democratic state executive committee agreed to let George go it 'incog.' The campaign committee consists of the officers of the state central committee, Steve O'Brien, and Louis K. Church of Everett. Henry Drum is chairman of this 'incog' committee, and everyone here knows he cannot give his entire time or even a fraction of it to the business of the campaign. Hazzard will boss it for him to please the Cleveland faction, while remaining behind the scenes. The whole snap is explained by prominent Democrats as being like the English government, where the queen is a figurehead and her cabinet runs the government. So Hazzard will run the campaign.
“George Hazzard is now 'incog.' He told his haters today that if he must boss the Democratic campaign, his personality must be masked by a 'campaign committee.'”
The practice of using 'shadow' committees to disguise the influence of controversial political power-brokers is as old as the territory itself. Much like modern dark money groups or PACs, these structures allow party elites to bypass grassroots dissent by putting a more palatable public face on their operations.
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