The world of slate mailers

In this week's Capitol Weekly, I have a story about the world of slate mailers, where campaigns can hide who sent out the mail, where Democrats send slates to Republicans, and vice versa, all unbeknownst to most voters. Here's a snipet: Packaged to look like it is an official party platform, slate mail is, more often than not, produced by for-profit organizations that auction off their collection of endorsements to the highest bidder. In the waning weeks of a campaign, thousands of such mailers are stuffed into voters' mailboxes with innocuous and informative-sounding titles like Voter Information Guide..., Independent Voters League, and Your Ballot Guide. The slate mail operations take place deep in the trenches of campaign warfare. Every campaign observer and operative Capitol Weekly interviewed--on and off the record--decried them as one of the dirtiest elements of electoral politics. Read the rest of it here.