black advance is a term used by political strategists to refer to an attempt to disrupt the advance operations of political opponents during an election campaign.

Notable examples have included the theft of speeches, break-ins of offices to secure political information, infiltration of advance staff working a particular event, disinformation campaigns to cause lower attendance at rallies, and disrupting rallies through various means.

Notable Examples

• In a California senatorial race, a university student named Dick Tuck
  Dick Tuck
  Dick Tuck is a former American political consultant, campaign strategist, advance man, and political prankster for the Democratic National Committee.-Pranks:...
  
   was given the task of being the local "advance" person for a Richard Nixon
  Richard Nixon
  Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
  
   speech, even though Tuck worked for the Helen Gahagan Douglas campaign. Tuck accepted the job and proceeded to book a huge auditorium, invite only a handful of people, stalled for a lot of time with a long-winded introduction, and informed the crowd Nixon would speak on the International Monetary Fund
  International Monetary Fund
  The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
  
  , which Nixon did not know much about. At the end of the rally, Nixon asked Tuck what his name was, then said, "Dick Tuck, you've made your last advance." Tuck became legendary for what amounted to diligent, low-grade obstruction of Nixon's campaign. In one instance, he switched the signs on two different buses, one labeled "Nixon" and one labeled "VIP's." The switch caused Nixon to be delivered to a hotel rather than a live television appearance. In another case, Tuck interfered with a "photo-op," by commissioning new signage in Chinese to accompany some "Welcome Nixon" signs at a Chinatown
  Chinatown
  A Chinatown is an ethnic enclave of overseas Chinese people, although it is often generalized to include various Southeast Asian people. Chinatowns exist throughout the world, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Australasia, and Europe. Binondo's Chinatown located in Manila,...
  
  , San Francisco, rally. Tuck's signs read, in Chinese, "What about the huge loan?" in a reference to a loan that Howard Hughes
  Howard Hughes
  Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
  
  had made to Nixon's brother Donald. Tuck was reportedly dismayed that "huge" was the closest the Chinese characters could come to spelling out the word "Hughes."