During the Iowa caucuses, Rick Santorum crossed the state in a 2006 Dodge Ram pickup belonging to campaign aide Chuck Laudner and dubbed the "Chuck Truck." This occurred while a number of the former senator's rivals for the GOP presidential nomination were traveling around in giant buses.

The gray four-door pickup with 178,000 miles on it had become a symbol of Santorum's blue-collar roots (coal miner's son) and the U.S.-based manufacturing message that is central to his campaign.

The Chuck Truck gained Santorum some attention and positive press coverage. The senator, said one news report, "also admitted to owning a second Ram, that one with more than 300,000 miles on it."

Oooooh awwww!

But there's more to the story that went unreported until Santorum recently released four years of his tax returns.

On the campaign trail in Iowa, he was driving (or rode) a well-worn pickup made in America. But before that, he was driving an Audi A6, manufactured in Germany and listed for $42,950, according to his 2008 tax return.

The tax returns also reveal that Santorum has made millions since leaving the Senate in 2008.

This isn't the first time a pickup has gotten attention for a candidate.

Former Tennessee senator and one-time GOP presidential candidate Fred Thompson campaigned behind the wheel of a red pickup, as did former Clinton attorney general Janet Reno, when she was running for governor of Florida.

But in neither case did the method of transportation cause the candidate the embarrassment that Santorum's has.

This also isn't the first time a politician has said or done something symbolic, but with mixed results.

Could any politician look more ill at ease than millionaire Mitt Romney in relaxed-fit jeans? Except for maybe millionaire Barack Obama, in "dad jeans" as he threw out the first pitch of the 2009 All-Star game.

Or how about Romney's rendition of "America the Beautiful," which just happened to closely follow Obama's take on Al Green's "Let's Stay Together"?

Sweater vests? Rick? Ron?

Going back in time, there was Bill Clinton (a heart attack waiting to happen and only avoided years later by bypass surgery) stopping at a McDonald's after a jog, coverage by a gaggle of news photographers.

There was George W. Bush chopping wood or clearing brush at his Texas ranch. Ditto, Ronald Reagan, in California.

Some of the symbolism works. Some of it can be disastrous, as Santorum is finding out.

Santorum's recent experience should be a cautionary tale for campaign staffs that try to make their candidate out to be something he isn't.