Perennial Presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche was not at -- in fact, was not even invited to--Tuesday's Democratic Presidential debate in Baltimore. But his campaign is claiming a victory there, nonetheless, after its supporters repeatedly interrupted the event, demanding to know why the economist was not included.
Their complaints, shouted at least five times over the course of the debate, probably weren't intelligible to those watching on television. But the other nine candidates' irritation was apparent. "I suspect he's in jail," said Dean, turning in what may have been the sharpest zinger of the night.
LaRouche, 81, running for the White House for the eighth time, served five years in prison for mail fraud and for conspiring to defraud the IRS. His campaign had lobbied the Congressional Black Caucus Institute, which, along with Fox News, sponsored the debate, to include him. Once rejected, his supporters decided to protest the event's "legitimacy," campaign spokeswoman Debra Freeman said yesterday.
"It was an act of civil disobedience," Freeman said. "The campaign wholly endorses and supports what they did. I'm glad that there are young people who are still prepared to do that kind of thing."