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

Edited by Richard Riehl. Kirsten Anderson, River Curtis-Stanley, Jodi Lampert, Julie Pierce, Debbi Plummer, and Denise Wheeler also contributed to this issue.

"Is subliminal messaging Hillary's latest campaign strategy?": Deputy Campaign Manager Mike Henry's email invitation for supporters to participate in a conference call on September 18 seems to carry a subliminal message. There's no mention of what time of day it will be or anything about the possibility of doing lunch with Bill and Hillary as a prize before the following sentence pops up: "It's been an exciting week, and I know we both can't wait to see who gets the chance to join Hillary and Bill for lunch. But, after lunch, Hillary needs our help." The email ends by returning to luncheon theme: " Your efforts will allow us to reach out to Americans across the country who are hungry for change..."

"Edwards pulls a bait and switch.": In this email from the Edwards campaign, supporters are invited to enter a contest to see which lucky five individuals get to accompany him to help build New Orleans when he takes a break from his campaign in October. "And if you make a contribution by the end of the third quarter on Sunday, September 30, one of them could be you!" Although the invitation implies you must make a donation to the campaign, click on the contest rules to discover... "No purchase or contribution necessary to enter. Making a contribution will not improve your chances of winning.

"Was Richardson gagged?": The candidate complained about not being allowed to speak Spanish at Sunday Univision debate. "I felt it was a gag that was unfortunate because here you had the leading Hispanic network in the country not allowing Spanish. It was a bow to the so-called front-runners who didn't want us to show off our Spanish," he said at a news conference to announce a Hispanic outreach program for his campaign.

"Uno momento, Senor Richardson!": Chris Dodd says he "learned to speak Spanish fluently while he was a volunteer in the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic." How about we settle this "Who can ask for contributions in Spanish better?" question mano a mano in a Telemundo Lincoln-Douglas style debate?

"The Dodd Squad doesn't do bumper stickers...yet.": In an interview with Salon.com about his energy policies, Chris Dodd explains that he can't sum it all up in a little slogan. "It takes you more than a bumper sticker to say it, so if you're looking for bumper stickers I don't have one yet for you." Sounds like a promise a little slogan could be on its way.

"He does weddings and birthday parties, too.": This Team Huckabee blog post asks readers if they've "demanded Governor Huckabee yet," which means making a formal request on Eventful.com that Huckabee comes to town. Apparently a simple request won't do.

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