Roadkill: OffTheBus's Ongoing RoundUp of the Awkward, the Ugly, and the Just Plain Weird

Mitt makes campaigning fun for students. Huck sells his religion. Santa stiffs Rudy. Fred fumbles again.

The following piece was produced through the Huffington Post's OffTheBus. Edited by Richard Riehl and Denise Wheeler. Reported by Kirsten Anderson, Ken Bank, River Curtis-Stanley, Jodi Lampert, Julie Pierce, Debbi Plummer, and Theresa Weathers.

Teachers will find this 2 cute! Romney's Coalitions Director sent this appeal to students in yesterday's email: "During ComMITT 2 the FUTURE on November 29th, Students for Mitt will make calls from dorm rooms, apartments, and classrooms to voters in early primary states." Will they need a perMITT if they adMITT they're campaigning in class? And will this replace "the dog ate my homework" as an excuse for not subMITTing an assignMITT on time?

Rudy disses Abe: At a Washington hotel Friday the Republican candidate asked a group of conservative lawyers at a Washington hotel. "You're making a choice. Who do you trust more--the government or the people?" At Gettysburg a Republican president said our government was worth saving because it represented the people.

Like shooting liberals in a barrel: Mike Huckabee got the endorsement of the Republican Sportshooters Association in South Carolina yesterday. He told the crowd the story of a rusty old 20 gauge shotgun in his rifle cabinet at home that was his father's gun, and that one day will be his son's. "You don't hear stories about fathers passing down video games to their sons," he quipped. We also don't hear stories about rusty old video games exploding in someone's face.

Coal in your stocking, Rudy! In New Hampshire, Rudy Giuliani and his entourage passed by a Santa Claus surrounded by joyful children. What does Mr. Claus want for Christmas? Stories of how Mr. Mayor saved the world? No! The jolly old fat man told the children, "Santa wants to see Hillary.'' Rudy didn't bother sharing his own wish list with the blue-state Santa.

Who thinks Fred Thompson has run a great campaign? In an interview with Chris Wallace, Fred Thompson criticized Fox News for being biased against his campaign. Wallace asked Fred, "Do you know anybody who thinks you've run a great campaign, sir?" Thompson couldn't come up with an answer. But that didn't stop him from posting the interview on his campaign website. Maybe that's Fred's secret weapon--asking supporters for help him in answering interview questions.

Holy Jihadist, did Mitt really say that? When asked about the possibility of appointing a Muslim to his cabinet, Romney replied, "Based on the numbers of American Muslims in our population, I cannot see that a cabinet position would be justified. But of course, I would imagine that Muslims could serve at lower levels of my administration." And we thought conservatives opposed identity politics and quotas.

Another Giuliani-ism: Leave it to Rudy to give us the one thing we haven't heard in the Republican race: "I'm a Gerald Ford Republican." As he told the Weekly Standard, "I voted for Gerry Ford. I had met him, really respected him. And then, by the time I left Washington I was a Republican." So there you have it - Mr. Nice Guy himself turned Rudy into a Republican. We can't wait to see the campaign ads for this one.

Huck plays the Mormon card: In his new ad Huckabee assures Iowa evangelicals that he's their special candidate. "Christian Leader" is the opening caption, followed by his declaration he's not a flip-flopper on his faith, "I don't have to wake up every day wondering, 'What do I need to believe?'" Although he didn't say it, the message was clear: I'm not like that Mormon who flip-flopped on abortion and gay marriage.

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