Each succeeding
experience with him grew more lurid of indecency, until his third
term was crystallized in Minneapolis tradition as "the notorious
Ames administration." Domestic scandal made him a social outcast,
political corruption a byword, and Ames disappeared from public
view for ten years.
In 1900 a new primary law provided the opportunity to return him
to power for the fourth time. Ames, who had been a Democrat, now
found it convenient to become a Republican. The new law, like
most of the early primary laws, permitted members of one party to
vote in the primaries of the other party. So Ames's following,
estimated at about fifteen hundred, voted in the Republican
primaries, and he became a regular candidate of that party in a
presidential year, when citizens felt the special urge to vote
for the party.
Ames was the type of boss with whom discipline is secondary to
personal aggrandizement. He had a passion for popularity; was
imposing of presence; possessed considerable professional skill;
and played constantly for the support of the poor. The attacks
upon him he turned into political capital by saying that he was
made a victim by the rich because he championed the poor.
Susceptible to flattery and fond of display, he lacked the power
to command. He had followers, not henchmen. His following was
composed of the lowly, who were duped by his phrases, and of
criminals, who knew his bent; and they followed him into any
party whither he found it convenient to go, Republican,
Democratic, or Populist.
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