A Southern politician, in rehearsing some of the stories with which he
made many Democratic votes during a campaign, related the following as
having probably been the most effective:
A darkey had a dream and thought he went to the bad place. The next day
he told his friends what he had dreamed, and they asked him a great many
questions.
"Did you see ole Satan down dar?" one of them asked.
"Oh, yes; I seed ole Satan dar, an' Belzybub, an' Pollyun an' de hull
lot. Dey was jist standin' roun' an' tendin' to de bisniss, pokin' de
fires an' makin' it hot fer de folks."
"Was dey--was dey any niggahs down dar?"
"Oh, yes, dey was lots an' lots o' niggahs, heaps on 'em."
"An' white folks?"
"Oh, yes, lots o' white folks, too; scores an' scores on 'em."
"Democrats?"
"Oh, yes, plenty Democrats."
"An' 'Publicans?"
"Oh, yes. De 'Publicans dey was in one pen by deyselves, an' de
Democrats dey was all in a pen, too."
"Was de white an' de black 'Publicans in de same pen?"
"Yes, dey was all togedder in de same pen."
"What was dey all a-doin'?"
"Well, I 'clar to goodness, w'en I looked in dat ar pen an' seed 'em, it
peered like ebbery blame white 'Publikin had a niggah in his arms
a-holdin' him up 'twixt him an' de fire to cotch de heft o' de heat."
"I estimate that this story," said the politician, "was good for at
least twelve hundred colored votes on our side in this campaign."