Occasional morsels from Campaign 2000

Bacon’s rebellion

As George W. Bush left Tommy’s Country Ham House in Greenville, S.C., on Saturday, a dump truck pulled up nearby and plopped a load of cow manure on the street. The driver, Sean Diener of Salt Lake City, got out of the truck dressed in a pig costume and began shouting, “Meat is murder! Meat is death! Pork is murder!” He was rapidly herded off by police.

Asked later what he thought about Diener’s group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Bush replied, “I’m glad I had bacon for breakfast.”

Of Mohawks and burgers

Bill Bradley, campaigning in Seattle, walked up to the window of Dick’s Drive-In and ordered a vanilla shake, lemonade and two hamburgers. As he left the restaurant, one of Seattle’s homeless--a 29-year-old who only identified himself at R.D.--asked Bradley for his burger.

“Sure,” Bradley said, handing him a Dick’s Special.

“To tell you the truth,” R.D. said as Bradley walked away, “I was just joking with him. He’s cool.”

Bradley then ran into Alex Gillis, 24. “You’re not going to believe this,” Gillis told him, “but will you sign my forehead?”

Bradley, a former Knicks star who is more frequently asked to sign basketballs, laughed and signed with a flourish. Gillis said he would keep the autograph until his grandmother tells him to wash it off.

Taking in the whole scene was a teenage boy with a red Mohawk. “Dude, this guy is so awesome,” he told a buddy. “He’s signing people’s foreheads and hanging out at Dick’s.”

Political muscle

Al Gore had a different encounter leaving a diner in Connecticut. An NBC cameraman, Rodney Batten, challenged the vice president to do the “stakeout workout.” The “workout,” apparently practiced by bored photographers waiting for a candidate to appear, consists of weightlifting with a heavy camera.

Gore took up the 30-pound camera and did nine curls with his right arm, six with his left. Then he swung the $75,000 camera over his head several times, prompting CBS cameraman Pete Traynham to call out: “Feel the burn!”

Not a good sign

At the back of the North Charleston Convention Center ballroom, where the defeated John McCain held his election night rally, was a shuttered snacks-and-drinks booth. Above it, in huge letters that dominated the room, a sign: CONCESSION.

Poppin’ fresh dough

The one thing you’d think Sen. John McCain would have nothing to teach George W. Bush about is fund-raising. The Texas governor has raised more than $72 million--several times McCain’s total contributions.

But McCain’s campaign has raised $4.7 million on the Internet to roughly $385,000 by the Bush campaign. In the last week, the Bush Web site added the same kind of pop-up mini-page that the McCain site has been using since the senator from Arizona won the New Hampshire primary. Now, visitors to either Web site are immediately hit up for cash.

By the numbers

79--High temperature Saturday in Columbia, S.C., where the Republicans were campaigning

54--High in Seattle, where Democrat Bill Bradley campaigned Saturday

30--High in New Haven, Conn., where Democrat Al Gore campaigned

Quote File

“For McCain’s campaign, Arizona is like a lay-up. If you blow the lay-up, you go to the bench.”

--Bush spokesman Jay Heiler, gauging the importance of Tuesday’s home-state primary to the senator

Compiled by Massie Ritsch from Times staff and wire reports