Cars
Fact-checked

At WikiMotors, we're committed to delivering accurate, trustworthy information. Our expert-authored content is rigorously fact-checked and sourced from credible authorities. Discover how we uphold the highest standards in providing you with reliable knowledge.

Learn more...

What is a Campaign Bus?

Jessica Ellis
Jessica Ellis
Jessica Ellis
Jessica Ellis

A campaign bus is a mobile office that supports a candidate or issue during a political campaign. Often, candidates will ride in campaign buses with support staff as a means of traveling around the voting area to give speeches and attract support. To many, a campaign bus offers a nostalgic image that dates back to the days when candidates traveled across states and countries by train in order to get the word out about themselves and their issues. Today, highly-funded candidates and issues organizations often own campaign buses filled with top of the line technology and furnishings, leading some to believe that the nostalgia is simply wishful thinking.

Before motorized transportation became the norm, politicians would often travel throughout the voting region by train, undertaking a “whistle stop” tour. At each station, the politician or his representatives would give speeches, hold debates, or hand out campaign literature. Before television and radio, this was often the only chance citizens got to see and hear a candidate speak out loud; crowds would often flood the station on the anticipated day of arrival, excited to finally get a glimpse of the political figure only known from newspapers and letters from friends. In 1948, Harry Truman undertook perhaps the most famous whistle stop tour, traveling by train to convince citizens to re-elect him as the US President. Many were charmed by Truman’s choice to use a blue-collar means of transportation rather than a luxury car or airplane; some experts consider this campaign strategy a major factor in his re-election.

Candidates for public office will use a campaign bus to meet voters.
Candidates for public office will use a campaign bus to meet voters.

After train travel became impractical for cross-country and state elections, campaign buses provided a cheap and easy means for candidates to get from one speech or event to the next. By renting a bus, a candidate could travel with family and staff from town to town or state to state in an efficient and relatively inexpensive manner. Today, many campaign buses carry a carnival air similar to those found on music tour buses. Key staff, celebrity endorsers, journalists, and even entertainers may travel on the campaign bus, ready to make each stopping location an event to remember.

A campaign bus is often the primary means that political candidates use to travel to different fundraising events.
A campaign bus is often the primary means that political candidates use to travel to different fundraising events.

By keeping campaign staff in one vehicle, a campaign bus can serve as a movable headquarters for a political bid. Many campaign buses have office-like features and include wireless Internet connections so that work can continue on the road. The flexibility of a campaign bus is also greatly beneficial to many political campaigns; if polling data or new developments require a change in event or speech scheduling, it is often far easier to reroute a bus than a plane or network of cars.

Political candidates typically use campaign buses to inform voters in different areas about their campaign ideas.
Political candidates typically use campaign buses to inform voters in different areas about their campaign ideas.

Some campaign buses embark upon tours to tout issues, rather than candidates. Using the same model of convenience and flexibility, issue buses can cover large territories in a few days or weeks, stopping at villages, towns, and cities to hold promotional events. Campaign buses often prove useful in areas that feature rural or spread-out populations; since airplanes require a landing strip or airport, they are frequently only able to reach larger population centers. A bus can easily travel from town to town, making small town citizens feel just as important and valuable to politics as larger cities.

Jessica Ellis
Jessica Ellis

With a B.A. in theater from UCLA and a graduate degree in screenwriting from the American Film Institute, Jessica is passionate about drama and film. She has many other interests, and enjoys learning and writing about a wide range of topics in her role as a WikiMotors writer.

Learn more...
Jessica Ellis
Jessica Ellis

With a B.A. in theater from UCLA and a graduate degree in screenwriting from the American Film Institute, Jessica is passionate about drama and film. She has many other interests, and enjoys learning and writing about a wide range of topics in her role as a WikiMotors writer.

Learn more...

Discussion Comments

fify

@bear78-- I don't agree with you. It's normal for campaign buses to be luxurious. Candidates spend a lot of time in these buses, they live in them for days on end sometimes. So the bus needs to be a comfortable and useful space. And candidates who use campaign buses do mingle with the people, that's the whole point.

bear78

@ysmina-- I find campaign buses impersonal. It was a different issue when politicians used to travel by train because they didn't have special trains and accommodations made for them. They used this transportation just like anyone else and they took this opportunity to actually mingle with people.

Campaign buses are expensive buses with miniature living areas and offices. These buses even have a kitchen. As far as I know, the most expensive campaign bus in the US costs one million dollars. And if these buses are used by candidates that are re-running for election, the US government pays for the campaign bus. I find this a little ridiculous.

ysmina

Modern campaign buses are very multi-functional. I've even seen a candidate give a speech on top of the bus once. The bus had a flat top that could be reached via stairs from inside the bus. It also had railings for protection. It was basically a bus with a stage for speeches ready to go.

I think this is a good idea when speeches are organized last minute. It's also efficient because the candidate doesn't have to make way through a crowd to reach the stage where he or she will speak.

Of course, there are downsides to this as well. Some people find campaign bus speeches impersonal.

Post your comments
Login:
Forgot password?
Register:
    • Candidates for public office will use a campaign bus to meet voters.
      By: Robert Wilson
      Candidates for public office will use a campaign bus to meet voters.
    • A campaign bus is often the primary means that political candidates use to travel to different fundraising events.
      By: kasto
      A campaign bus is often the primary means that political candidates use to travel to different fundraising events.
    • Political candidates typically use campaign buses to inform voters in different areas about their campaign ideas.
      By: Photo_Ma
      Political candidates typically use campaign buses to inform voters in different areas about their campaign ideas.