Remember newly-elected Congressman Eric Swalwell’s (D-Dublin) use of a rubber ducky in his campaign last year to dethrone longtime Congressman Pete Stark? Turns out it’s part of a list of gimmicks the former Alameda County prosecutor has used to draw attention to himself or his causes over the years. A New Republic piece last month detailed several, including his staging a mock funeral for higher education while a senior at the University of Maryland, and parading around that state’s capitol in Hawaiian shirt and wig to mock the governor’s tropical vacation. (Excerpt, after the jump.)
Now Steven Tavares at East Bay Citizen expands the theme with a column called “The Makings of a Media Whore.”
From The New Republic:
That’s just the kind of person Swalwell is: Someone who's willing to risk ridicule to accomplish his goal—whatever that may be. Back in 2003, when Maryland Gov. Bob Ehrlich made additional budget cuts before taking off on a tropical vacation, Swalwell followed up the fake funeral by capering around the capitol in a Hawaiian shirt and wig as “Bahama Bob.” In 2000, as a freshman in college, Swalwell and his buddies, not for any particular reason, went to Cancun masquerading as a camera crew for a reality show they dubbed “MTV Undercover.” Toting three video cameras, mics, lights, business cards, and forms with MTV letterhead, Swalwell and co. sponsored a Mardi Gras–themed parade and hosted a bikini contest.
Image: CBS 5
