In 1972, it was Sen. Ed Muskie’s “Canuck” catastrophe, generated by a forged letter to the Manchester, N.H., Union-Leader from a Republican operative. In 2006, it was Virginia Sen. George Allen’s “macaca” meltdown, captured in digital video by a “tracker” for his Democratic opponent.

Tricks may change, but high-stakes politics stay the same. Campaigns from time immemorial have sought the damning sound bite, or fabricated the perfect embarrassment. Muskie and Allen are just two whose political aspirations have been derailed by tricksters and tacticians.

Sen. Susan Collins knows all about this today, after being “tracked” by a Democratic videographer during a parade in Stockton Springs. Maine’s junior senator, vying for re-election against Rep. Tom Allen, is embroiled in one of the nation’s most scrutinized political campaigns.

Unlike the situations with Muskie and George Allen, the 2008 election is more than a year away. The forged letter tying Muskie to the Franco slur came days before the New Hampshire presidential primary (which the popular Maine senator, and Rumford native, expected to win handily, but didn’t. His campaign never recovered.)

George Allen’s mesmerizing “macaca” mention came about 90 days before Election Day; his archaic, insensitive and endlessly replayed comment KO’d his strong re-election bid. In the American Museum of Last-Minute Political Gaffes, George Allen’s miscue deserves it’s own wing.

There’s a difference, though, between “pulling out the political stops” and political harassment – timing. Muskie and George Allen were victimized because their embarrassments were fresh for Election Day, which meant they had clear, and savage impacts on voter attitudes. The tricks and tactics were executed for maximum gain.

What could Collins say, during a routine public appearance about 15 months before the next election, that could have the same result? Unless staggering, which would be completely out of character for the two-term incumbent, even controversial utterances would be long forgotten by November 2008.

In this YouTube world, the speed of a candidate’s sound is equaled only by the fleetingness of its lifespan.

The appearance is one of tracking, for tracking sake. Though politicians must tolerate an interrogatory spotlight – of their own choosing, we point out – what happened to Collins was still political skullduggery, not “research,” as it has been called. Nobody in the Senate has been under more scrutiny in recent months than Collins.

This is where campaign “research” should focus, not on her cadence during a small-town parade.

Mainers should get used to these tactics, unfortunately. Politics is politics – it’s the same here as anywhere else in the United States – and the national attention on the Collins-Allen race will undoubtedly inspire more moneyed mudslinging inside the Pine Tree State before it’s all said and done.

If tracking mundane appearances is an August 2007 tactic, we shudder at what the coming months might bring.