Presidential Campaign Fought by Series of Escalating College Pranks
Vice President Joe Biden will show up in Tampa on the first night of his opponents' special celebration, the Republican National Convention, and give a speech outside. Usually, top elected officials stay away during the opposing party's conventions, but not to be outdone, Republicans promise they will one-up Biden's level of rudeness during the Democratic National Convention the next week according to The Washington Post's Rachel Weiner. Because these men work on computers under flourescent lights, the conflict is described in terms of war and violence: "I'm a big believer in: if they punch us, we put on the brass knuckles and punch back," RNC chair Reince Priebus told BuzzFeed's Zeke Miller. But it doesn't really seem much like a fistfight. It's more like nerdy college pranks. The primary goal isn't to wound, but to be annoying.
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In May, when President Obama's adviser David Axelrod gave a speech in Boston in an attempt to draw attention to Mitt Romney's record as governor, a Romney supporters yelled "Axel-Fraud" the whole time and blew bubbles. In June, a Romney campaign bus circled Obama supporters in Cleveland and honked a bunch of times. Then! The RNC sent the Democratic National Committee a birthday cake for Obama, which was totally a sick burn because everybody knows they don't sincerely wish him a happy birthday.The DNC refused to eat it, which probably hurt the RNC's feelings. Not to be outdone, Democrats launched counter-bus attacks in both June and August.
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As Romney's bus left on a swing state bus tours, a DNC bus stalked behind or beat it to its destination, accusing the Republican of throwing the middle class under the bus. Get it? It's a pun, because Romney's on a bus, and also there's a cliché with negative connotations that contains the word "bus." Last week, Democrats parked their bus in front of the RNC, meaning it was harder for RNC staffers to get to their food trucks. When Republicans complained, a DNC spokesman made a kinda-sorta fat joke: "we just want you all to walk a little farther for lunch. #letsmove." Sick burn, you guys!
