Kissing babies and eating junk food: election season, food, and identity

Come election season, politicians don't just have to kiss babies -- they have to eat junk food too.  It's about more than just being polite -- anywhere on the planet, it's an insult to turn down food, so you can't turn anything down without being labeled a jerk.  It's also about identity -- what you eat is an indication of what tribe you belong to.  And so come election season, every damn politician starts eating whatever "ordinary folks" eat.

Pick your party, pick your candidate, it doesn't matter.

"[Candidate X] has tried the new $4.39 Carl’s Jr. jalapeño chicken sandwich (“delicious”), celebrated the Reagan Library debate with fast-food burgers and fries (again, Carl’s Jr.), and dug into a Subway flatbread sandwich while sitting in an airport terminal (“better than the usual campaign diet of morning donuts”)."

That happens to be Mitt Romney, but it could just as easily have been any number of political figures in recent memory.  Remember when Barack Obama tried to connect with people by complaining about the price of arugula?  Or when John Kerry's hotel requests were leaked, and it specified "No Evian", because he was fighting a French image?

Here's the thing.  To the extent that Republican and Democratic candidates went to Ivy League schools and were brought up in the same culture of privilege, then they probably eat more similarly to each other than to a blue collar person of either party.

Let's look at our three most recent Presidents: Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.

Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton came from a blue collar background (Arkansas), and only later rose up through the elite establishment (Rhodes Scholar).  His love of fast food was legendary -- he didn't have to pretend to "eat like the common man".  And yes, Clinton was always known for being able to connect, and a large part of that was his blue collar roots.  (Of course, now he's vegan.  Remember, veganism has a lot of identity value now that Clinton's world is the edgy and hip liberal, international scene.)

George W. Bush is kind of the reverse of Clinton.  He started from a privileged background, but he had a blue collar temperament.  He was always good at connecting with a lot of folks, being a guy who people wanted to have a beer with.  And yes, he ate in a mainstream way too.  This is from a site on what foods various Presidents liked: 

"There was a handful of things that the President wanted for lunch, and he almost never deviated from that list. There was a BLT...He liked his grilled cheese sandwiches made with Kraft Singles and white bread."

Many people who didn't like Bush would criticize him for "faking it" -- putting on a Texan affect and pretending that he didn't come from a well-off background.  That may be so, what do I know -- but on the other hand, you can't fake eating Kraft Singles and white bread for lunch all the time, far away from the media's flashbulbs.

Barack Obama

Remember during the Presidential Beer Summit, when the President drank a Bud Light?  And honestly, it didn't quite seem like a beer he would actually choose?  That's because President Obama isn't blue collar.   

"For sweets, the Obamas eat Fran's Chocolates, an artisan chocolate brand from Seattle. The president-elect prefers Fran's Smoked Sea Salt Caramel in Milk Chocolate ($24 for a 16-piece box); wife Michelle prefers dark chocolate, says Sean Seedlock, Fran's marketing chief. *Drinks. Obama is a fan of Black Forest Berry Honest Tea. "

Does Fran's Smoked Sea Salt Caramel in Milk Chocolate sound blue collar to you?  That may be one of the reasons why the President continues to have difficulty connecting with a lot of folks.

Now, here's the million dollar question: what does an authentic blue collar candidate eat?  Moose stew.

Food and identity, people -- food and identity.  Food preferences become fairly ingrained after young adulthood, and those relatively-fixed preferences become good signals for what group you're from.

Personality plays a mediating role, but that's for another post.