Abroad with Mark Twain and Eugene Field/Mark in Politics
MARK IN POLITICS
The chief regret of Mark's literary life was that "folks felt disappointed unless tickled" by his writings. Joan of Arc was his first serious attempt, but when he entered national and New York City politics—against Blaine and Tammany respectively—he was so much in earnest they had to hire Bob Davis to follow up his speeches with a few funny remarks.
"Throwing acorns before the swine," Mark called it. ("Acorn" was the name of the anti-Tammany organization). "Bob had better can that stuff and sell it to the Saturday Evening Post. They will fall for it, all right."