Presidential candidates love Animal House

Why do candidates keep campaigning at the famous movie frat house on the campus of Dartmouth University? Here is Sam Stein at Politico:

There are a number of spots on the campus of Dartmouth College that would serve as bucolic backgrounds for a presidential candidate trying to win over the student body that gets to vote in the New Hampshire primary.

The Alpha Delta house would not seem, on the surface, to be one of them.

Located a stone’s throw from the college green in Hanover, the fraternity — known colloquially on campus as AD and culturally as the inspiration for the film Animal House — is neither imposing nor inviting. Its brick facade, cement porch, white trimmed windows and green shutters make it relatively indistinguishable from the rest of the edifices that surround it — until you get closer.

Then you see how beaten down it is, the roof shingles not all there, the windows barely holding the AC units tucked within them. Get closer still, and (at least in the old days) you start to take in that putrid smell; embedded from the decades of beer, puke and, yes, urine that were left to coat the floor and the walls.

It is not a particularly inspiring place, even if there are those who love it. And yet, Alpha Delta has a semi-rich history of hosting those aspiring to be elected to the White House.

Over the weekend, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and current candidate for president Nikki Haley became the latest to make the pilgrimage to the land of Bluto, Pinto and Flounder. She spoke in the room known as the Great Hall (which is, contrary to the name, a pretty no-frills space), delivering a 45 minute address that touched on the standard campaign topics. Only briefly did she acknowledge the history — often fun, quite literally forgettable and definitely problematic — of the place.

“You left out that Animal House was taken after this, right?” Haley said, following her introduction. “You gotta talk about that because I think it’s super cool.”

Super cool, indeed.

Read the rest here. John Edwards, John McCain, and Bob Dole have also visited.