Dolores Park-goers this Saturday were greeted to this bit of strange mayoral campaigning: David Chiu and his staff walking around the park in Star Wars costumes and collecting signatures.

I ran into a political reporter from the SF Bay Guardian and when we went to check out the signature-collecting table, trying to figure out if David Chiu was camped out at the table alone, wearing a Storm Trooper helmet and making thousands of day-drinkers question his sanity.  But as we approached the table, Chiu ran up and began one of the most spectacular media whoring conversations I've ever witnessed.  The ordinarily-friendly Chiu became immediately focused, completely ignoring everyone around him besides the Guardian reporter and the staffers he introduced the reporter too.  And after giving the reporter some celebrity-status treatment, he insisted that he have his photo taken with Chewbacca “for the paper.”

Chiu's signature awkward fist bump.

He then led us across the park, kissing ass the entire time, while assembling a crew of supporters for a group shot (not pictured here). He then posed for pictures while the oblivious and apathetic electorate ignored the whole scene, opting to lay on the grass and photograph each other:

After the photo sesh, he grabbed the Guardian reporter, “Can you try to use the shot with all the supporters behind us?”