Making a point in Washington? You'll need a prop
Lawmakers and interest groups find that stunt-based news conferences make great YouTube. Bring on the chicken bowling.
Reporting from Washington — When Rep. John E. Peterson came under attack for steering taxpayer funds to a weather museum in Punxsutawney, Pa., the town famous for its Groundhog Day observance, it wasn't enough for the Pennsylvania Republican to go before the microphone to defend the spending.
He sent for Phil.
The weather-predicting groundhog joined Peterson on Capitol Hill in 2004 as the lawmaker defended the $100,000 earmark as a way to promote tourism in an economically depressed area. It was the biggest crowd the congressman had ever drawn for a news conference.
"You'd think the president was there," said Jordan Clark, Peterson's chief of staff.
When it comes to making your point heard, Washington loves its props.
To prove that ethanol was safe for gas tanks, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) once took a swig of the stuff. When Rep. Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena) couldn't get a meeting with the Interior secretary to discuss the administration's water policies and a massive fish kill in the Klamath River, he dumped 500 pounds of dead fish outside the department's offices.
And when the California Poultry Foundation wanted to protest a policy that allowed frozen chicken to be sold as fresh, it invited lawmakers to bowl frozen chickens. "There's so many issues in Washington. And chicken didn't seem to be a top priority," said the president of the foundation, Bill Mattos. "But it certainly was once we got all these people interested in the chicken bowling."
"It's not enough to just have a good speech," said former Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.), who once brought bloodhounds into the Capitol in search of a yet-to-be produced Democratic budget. Susan Irby, a former Lott staffer, added, "You have to find a way to make your event stand out."
The use of props isn't new.
Rep. Jim Nussle (R-Iowa) gained notoriety in 1991 when he wore a paper bag over his head to show his contempt for Congress during the House banking scandal. That same year, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine) used a sledgehammer to drive home a point -- smashing a Toshiba radio to protest the company's sale of technology products to the Soviet Union. And Rep. Bob Livingston (R-La.) brought a machete to his first meeting as House Appropriations Committee chairman in 1995 to show his determination to cut spending.
But such stunts seem to be on the rise in the age of 24-hour cable news and YouTube.
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