Would you like a Possum?
In Florida, they are subdeveloping the rural parts of the state out of existence as fast as they can, but there's still a significant rural vote that requires pandering in the panhandle.
Every election year, national and statewide candidates in Florida must prove they are good country folk by mistreating a possum at the Wausau Possum Festival.
Candidates bid for a possum, taking it out of a holding area by its tail and giving it a shake to terrify the creature into going limp so it won't claw them. They're later fed and released into the wild (the possums, not the politicians). Katherine Harris bid $400 for hers.