April Fools' Review: A Tricky Day

Wednesday, April 2, 2008 | 5:55 PM

By Sarah Scully
April Fools' Day was well established before we ever became a country but Americans have gladly adopted this pseudo holiday and made it their own. For candidates, April Fools' offers the chance to work on their likeability factor:
Hillary Clinton took the opportunity to demonstrate her facility for gaiety by informing the press that she would be challenging Obama to a bowl-off for the nomination. This served two purposes, as she was able to also reference her opponent's ineptitude at the past time of so many working class Pennsylvania voters.

John McCain showed-off a boyish silliness in trading insults such as "You look like a guy caught smuggling reptiles in his pants," with David Letterman.

So, where did April Fools' come from? Many believe that the day was named for those who rebelled against Pope Gregory XIII's replacement of the Julian Calendar with the Gregorian and continued to celebrate New Year's Day on April 1st. Sound familiar? Much like the Democratic parties in Michigan and Florida, these "fools" refused to accept the dates put forth by their leader and as a result, they were ostracized.