Pulling back the curtains on a campaign trick

Barry Loudermilk, a candidate for an open U.S. House seat, got a strange email the other day: Was he willing to let a for-profit website market a video he made with public money?

The awkward wording of the note eventually set off alarms in Loudermilk's camp and, after some digging, his aides traced the note to an address across town. More specifically, to an address linked to the campaign manager for state Rep. Ed Lindsey, another Republican running for the seat.

There’s a layer of secretive jousting beneath every big-time competitive campaign, and the skulduggery can be immensely helpful to a candidate if done right — and irrevocably embarrassing if foiled. This behind-the-scenes gamesmanship is raging ahead of a record-early May 20 primary election, and it involves a delicate dance between candidates, political operatives and the media.