The "New Hampshire" phone-jamming scandal--I would just say "Republican scandal but that would not only inspire cries of "Which one, fer chrissakes?" but be uncivil--just keeps sending tentacles out all over the country. Go read the whole thing for details, but here are the high points:

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a former Republican Party chairman, arranged the startup financing for a GOP telemarketing company implicated in two criminal cases involving election dirty tricks. [snip]By 2002, according to federal court records, GOP Marketplace president Allen Raymond and the Alexandria, Va.-based company were carrying out political dirty tricks in New Hampshire and New Jersey. [snip]

GOP Marketplace was incorporated in Virginia on May 19, 2000, the Virginia records show. An investment company called Helm Partners, with the Washington address of Barbour's lobbying firm, lent GOP Marketplace $246,700.[snip]

The agreement was signed by Barbour's lobbying partner, Edward Rogers, Raymond and Tommy Hopper, who worked for Barbour at the RNC and was a state Republican chairman in Tennessee.

Ever drip a drop of ink, or food coloring, into a container of water? No matter how still the liquid appears to be, the stain just extends tendrils out, and they get longer and longer. I wonder why that image occurs to me.