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  Political stunts add spice to elections
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ContributorPenguin 
Last EditedPenguin  Sep 17, 2006 07:20pm
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CategoryGeneral
MediaWebsite - Yahoo News
News DateMonday, September 18, 2006 01:00:00 AM UTC0:0
DescriptionFRANKFORT, Ky. - Otis Hensley had to duck to avoid tree branches as he rode a 12-foot-tall Fiberglas bull around the state Capitol.

The long-shot Kentucky gubernatorial candidate had attached signs to each side of the brown and white caricature declaring that, if elected, he would "control the bull in Frankfort."

In a thick central Appalachian drawl, Hensley, a demolition contractor, said he can't afford a television advertising campaign, so the outrageous political stunt was necessary to let voters know he is running for the Democratic nomination in next year's election.

And it worked. Television crews and newspaper reporters couldn't resist watching Hensley's ride.

Such stunts by underdog candidates have been a mainstay in American politics. Some have dressed in clown costumes, debated life-size cutouts of their opponents, auctioned themselves on eBay, paid election filing fees with coins, and sent campaign workers dressed as giant rats or chickens to the opposition's political events.
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