Donna Isbell Walker

diwalker@greenvillenews.com

The presidential campaign is heating up, as South Carolina voters prepare for this weekend's GOP debate and next weekend's primary. But fictional presidential campaigns are gaining momentum too.

This weekend, the campaign headquarters for the nefarious President Frank Underwood, the lead character in the Netflix series "House of Cards," opened in downtown Greenville. Fans lined up Friday afternoon for a chance to take a photo of Underwood's desk and get some free campaign swag.

Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey, who stars as Underwood, wasn't on hand for the event, but fans weren't deterred, walking out of the office donning "FU' 16" buttons and clutching navy blue T-shirts.

Misty Boyes, a "huge fan" of the series, waited in the half-block-long line to get into the flag-emblazoned building.

"I've never seen anything like this," said Boyes, who works downtown and walked down on her lunch hour.

While Boyes said she's interested in the current (non-fictional) presidential campaign, she couldn't see voting for Underwood if the character were running in 2016 for real.

"Having seen how he behaves on the show, no," Boyes said.

Her friend Jennifer Little agreed: "He's a little sketch," Little said.

The Underwood character hails from Gaffney, and Boyes and Little thought it was a nice tie-in that the office was set up in Greenville.

The new season of "House of Cards" opens March 4, but the FU '16 Headquarters, located at 257 S. Main St., will only be open until Saturday. It remains open until 11 p.m. Friday and will be open from 8 a.m. to midnight Saturday.

Even The Greenville Drive is getting in on Underwood's visit. They tweeted this photo of a jersey carrying the faux-politician's name.

Interested in learning more about the real 2016 candidates? Click here to see where each candidate stands on the issues.

For details on the debate, click here.

Personality contest overwhelms issues in GOP primary