Aboard the McCain Press Bus: Where's Keanu Reeves When You Need Him?

By Holly Bailey 

It's a dilemma that pops up every four years: reporters, stuck on buses and planes all day with endless access to junk food but no time for exercise, fret about the pounds they pack on covering the presidential campaign.

Normally the realization that Pringles is not a part of a healthy diet doesn't kick in until closer to Election Day, but reporters covering John McCain's presidential run may have gotten the big hint already. McCain, who is campaigning in Southern California this week, was leaving an event outside San Diego Monday when the press bus got stuck pulling out of parking lot. The problem: it was too heavy. The front wheels ended up slightly suspended in the air (imagine a less dramatic version of the bus jump from the movie "Speed"), while the back end rode so low to the ground it literally wasn't moving. As the bus blocked a lane or two of traffic, campaign aides fretted about what to do.

For the record, this reporter was tailing the motorcade in a rental car, while NEWSWEEK's photographer, greatly amused at the situation, shot pictures of the scene (above) and shouted helpful suggestions on how to remedy the predicament: "Make them get off the bus! Less weight!" In the end, nobody had to disembark. A random set of McCain fans, hanging out in the alley hoping to score the senator's autograph, jumped behind the bus and gave it several healthy heave-hos, and the press again was on its way. Indeed, many reporters on the bus later claimed to have had no idea there was any problem whatsoever. "What?" one innocently claimed. "This happened today?"