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Ironically, the "reformist" candidate Blaine lost to Cleveland in 1884 because of rumors of financial corruption.

Well, that and "Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion." Blaine lost votes because of that unguarded anti-Catholic remark by a supporter.

The irony there -- which I just learned today in wikipedia -- is that Blaine's mother and half his family were Catholic.

[colorado tanker]

Well, here's even more irony. He was the author of the Blaine Amendment, which was designed to block tax dollars from funding Catholic schools. It failed in Congress but many states adopted it.

It didn't bother so-called liberals here in Colorado to use a constitutional provision born in religious bigotry to block one school district's voucher plan because, horror of horrors, some parents might use their voucher in a parochial school.