Unscripted moments on the 2016 campaign trail

Running for president can be a pretty dry process: the position papers, the press conferences, the campaign rallies - all are carefully manicured to promote a candidate's chosen message. Surprises, flubs, and unscripted moments are to be avoided, if possible.

But every now and again, a candidate will hit a child in the face with a football, or protesters will ambush an event, and campaigns just have to make the best of it.

The 2016 election, with at least 22 declared candidates between the two major parties, has already provided plenty of fodder for viral videos and late-night talk show hosts. And with more than 14 months to go before Election Day, it's a sure bet there's more to come.

Here's a look at 5 unscripted moments so far that have enlivened the 2016 campaign trail.

Marco Rubio's football folly

Here's a pro tip: When you're running for president, try not to peg small children in the head with projectiles. But if you do, at least make sure nobody captured the incident on video.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who's seeking the Republican nomination, learned those lessons the hard way last week, when he he tossed a football to four-year-old Brody Dill during a "family picnic" in Iowa.

In Rubio's defense, it was a fairly good throw - the spiral was on point, and his aim was true. But Dill was obviously not ready for it, because the ball struck the boy right in the head instead of landing in his outstretched hands.

Here's a video of the incident, uploaded to YouTube by YouFirstNews:

After the footage went viral, Rubio offered a good-natured response on Twitter:

Dill, for his part, let Rubio know that he'll be ready for the next throw:

Ted Cruz's speech do-over

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz thought he had a fool-proof plan to attract some press coverage in the wake of President Obama's State of the Union address in January: He would record a speech responding the president's address. He would post that speech on the Internet. And he would wait for the free media attention to come pouring in.

In the end, Cruz did just that, but there was a slight mishap along the way.

Shortly after the president's speech, a video of Cruz responding to Mr. Obama's address was posted on YouTube. But it wasn't the final draft - it was an outtake. After about a minute of speaking, Cruz paused to gather his thoughts and said, "Eh, let me start over."

The video was quickly taken down, but the Internet never forgets. You can see a copy of Cruz's flubbed response below, courtesy of YouTube:

Carly Fiorina's website woes

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina has based her presidential campaign, in part, on the contention that she knows more about technology and the 21st century economy than her competitors. As the first female CEO of a Fortune 20 company, Fiorina certainly has some bragging rights in that regard (though questions remain about how effective her stewardship of HP truly was.)

When Fiorina began her campaign in May, however, her kickoff was marred by an unexpected website problem. Her campaign staff did not purchase the rights to CarlyFiorina.org, and whoever managed that particular URL was obviously not a Fiorina fan.

"Carly Fiorina failed to register this domain," a message on the website read. "So I'm using it to tell you how many people she laid off at Hewlett-Packard. It was this many." The message was followed by roughly 30,000 frowning emoticons.

A writer with Wired Magazine noted, "In the moment it's a funny gaffe, a chance to throw pebbles at giant campaign bears. But it also speaks to a larger lack of preparedness."

In Fiorina's defense, though, she's not the only 2016 candidate with website woes: Visitors to TedCruz.com, for example, are urged to support President Obama and immigration reform - two causes that aren't exactly near and dear to the Texas senator's heart.

Scott Walker ambushed by critics

During a trip to New Hampshire earlier this month, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was asked whether he would pose for a photo with a young man bearing a sign that read "Walker 4 President."

The Republican candidate obliged. And right before the photo was taken, the young man, Tyler McFarland, flipped his sign around, revealing a fake check from the Koch brothers to Walker in the amount of $900,000,000. The memo line on the check read, "Presidency."

The Koch brothers, Charles and David, are billionaire industrialists who have vowed to spend a huge sum on the 2016 election to boost conservative causes and candidates. They've named Walker as one of the candidates most likely to earn their support.

McFarland explained the motivation behind his prank in an interview with the Guardian.

"We presented Scott Walker with a 900m novelty check from the Koch brothers today, because Scott Walker is the most dangerous candidate on climate change," he explained. "We just wanted to highlight the fact that Scott Walker is poised to receive $900m from the Kochs, particularly to continue climate denial and implement disastrous environmental policies."

Walker can't seem to avoid the sign-wielding detractors. During a visit to a Philadelphia cheesesteak joint last month, he was ambushed by a pair of protesters whose signs bore some...colorful...messages.

Bernie Sanders' rally gets hijacked

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has generated considerable enthusiasm among parts of the liberal grassroots, with his campaign message decrying economic inequality, but at least one progressive group has given him a chillier reception.

Black Lives Matter is a movement dedicated to raising awareness about racial bias in law enforcement. It was formed after several recent episodes in which police were involved in the deaths of unarmed black people, and it has been a disruptive force on the 2016 campaign trail, crashing rallies and forums to demand accountability and action.

Sanders was first waylaid by Black Lives Matter at the Netroots Nation conference in July, when several members of the group commandeered the stage and pressed Sanders and another Democratic candidate, Martin O'Malley, on their plans for police reform. Sanders seemed taken aback, telling the protesters, "If you don't want me to be here, that's OK. I don't want to outscream people." But he was eventually able to deliver his speech.

He wasn't so lucky at a subsequent rally in Seattle, however, when protesters affiliated with Black Lives Matter rushed the stage and interrupted Sanders just after he began speaking.

Some audience members yelled, "Let Bernie speak," but the presidential contender eventually stood back and allowed the demonstrators to have their say. He left soon after without speaking, exiting the stage with a raised fist salute. In a statement issued after the rally, the senator said he was "disappointed" by the interruption, but he suggested he got the message.

"On criminal justice reform and the need to fight racism there is no other candidate for president who will fight harder than me," he said.