According to a column in the New York Daily News , "If you see folks on the streets of New York in dolphin suits, and wonder why they're wearing heavy, airless, synthetic-fiber getups in the killing summer sun, here's the answer: The Republican National Committee has deployed staffers and volunteers to impersonate Flipper, the beloved dolphin who starred in the 1960s television series. It's to lampoon Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry and his alleged flip-flops on the issues." RNC communications chief Jim Dyke "yesterday told me that his office has bought 10 of the bulky, heat-stroke-inducing costumes, at $500 per, so a whole school of Flippers can attend Democratic Party events during the Republican Convention – including the Dems' daily news conference criticizing the opposition. 'We call them 'Flipper and friends,'' Dyke said."

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