Obama debuts monster campaign bus

Obama’s limo is a “Beast” but his new bus
is a even more of a monster
© AFP Jim Watson

CANNON FALLS, Minnesota (AFP) – President Barack Obama’s limo is a “Beast” but his new bus is a even more of a monster.

The US leader swept onto the campaign trail Monday with a sleek and even sinister looking set of wheels with blacked out windows worth $1.1 million.

The shiny, black armored bus, bristling with secret communications technology, with flashing police-style red and blue lights on the front and the back, made its debut on Obama’s three-day tour of Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois.

The vehicle was commissioned by the Secret Service, which has always hired buses for election campaigns and retrofitted them to provide suitable protection for presidents and rival party nominees.

But the Service decided to commission its own vehicles, reasoning that the initial total outlay of 2.2 million dollars for two buses would soon pay for itself over a projected 10-year lifespan.

“We have demonstrated the need for these buses going back to 1980,” said Ed Donovan, a Secret Service spokesman, recalling the days when future president Ronald Reagan stormed the country by bus.

Each of the new buses will be available to Obama and the eventual Republican presidential nominee if required through the duration of the 2012 election season.

But because they are part of the official US government fleet, campaigns will not be able to splash their political logos or other banners over the buses, which will retain their black paint schemes.

The vehicles will also be used as secure, mobile locations for the Secret Service when protectees travel to remote locations, Donovan said.

Officials declined to disclose the exact specifications of each bus, but said the precautions were in line with those taken for other presidential vehicles, including Obama’s hulking limousine, nicknamed the “Beast.”

The official Cadillac has thick reinforced doors and reportedly has bullet-proof glass and is tough enough to withstand a rocket-propelled grenade or chemical attack.

The vehicle is flown around the world in huge US cargo aircraft, and appears wherever Obama does.