{"id":19339,"date":"2020-01-19T20:40:26","date_gmt":"2020-01-19T20:40:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=19339"},"modified":"2020-01-21T21:06:45","modified_gmt":"2020-01-21T21:06:45","slug":"bill-de-blasios-bagel-gaffe-and-the-fraught-politics-of-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/bill-de-blasios-bagel-gaffe-and-the-fraught-politics-of-food\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill de Blasio’s bagel gaffe and the fraught politics of food"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stacy A. Cordery<\/a>, Iowa State University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

If New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio hadn\u2019t already dropped out of the 2020 presidential race, #bagelgate might have been the nail in the coffin.<\/p>\n

His Jan. 15 tweet praising a toasted bagel on National Bagel Day instantly set off hardline bagel devotees-cum-voters. De Blasio quickly amended his tweet<\/a> to delete the word \u201ctoasted.\u201d But the damage was already done. Purists scorned the very idea of toasting a bagel<\/a>, calling into question his bona fides as a New Yorker.<\/p>\n

The outrage over bagel protocol may seem silly. But few acts are as personal as eating, and food is closely intertwined with place and culture.<\/p>\n

For a politician, food might seem like a low-hanging fruit. Is there an easier way to appeal to the masses? Everyone, after all, eats.<\/p>\n

But when politicians wade into local food customs, they do so at their own risk. My research<\/a> on presidents and first ladies suggests that uninformed assumptions about food often get candidates and elected officials in trouble.<\/p>\n

Bill de Blasio isn\u2019t the first politician to run afoul of food norms and face the wrath of voters. And he certainly won\u2019t be the last.<\/p>\n

Culinary campaign calamities<\/h2>\n

Most political wannabes try hard to bridge the gap between their wealthy backgrounds and the rest of us. It rarely works.<\/p>\n

During the 1976 presidential campaign, incumbent president Gerald Ford, before the eyes of bewildered Texans, peeled back the aluminum foil \u2013 but not the corn husk \u2013 and took a giant bite out of a tamale. Ford never lived it down.<\/p>\n

According to former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee<\/a>, \u201cThe Great Tamale Incident\u201d sealed Ford\u2019s loss to Jimmy Carter in the Lone Star State.<\/p>\n

In 2003, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry unwittingly broke food norms when he ordered<\/a> Swiss cheese for his Philly cheese steak instead of Cheese Whiz. Nine years later, Republican Mitt Romney asked for<\/a> a \u201csub\u201d in Pennsylvania, where, as locals will tell you, they call them hoagies. And Romney again made himself an easy target for mockery in 2019, when the millionaire businessman claimed his favorite type of meat<\/a> was a hot dog.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Just a regular American guy grilling regular American food.<\/span>
\nRick Friedman\/Corbis via Getty Images<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pizza is treacherous terrain: Republicans Donald Trump, Sarah Palin and John Kasich have all faced withering criticism for eating pizza with a fork<\/a>. Bill de Blasio made the same mistake<\/a>, too, in what was dubbed \u201cforkgate.\u201d<\/p>\n

But no food has a greater potential for campaign catastrophe than the corn dog. The optics of state fair corn dog consumption are never good. The web is full of wince-worthy photos of Michele Bachmann<\/a>, Rick Perry and Bernie Sanders<\/a> all struggling to maintain their dignity while biting into a battered, oversized wiener popsicle.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Rick Perry dives in.<\/span>
\nAP Photo\/Charles Dharapak<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Better to be a vegan like Cory Booker<\/a> \u2013 and avoid them altogether \u2013 than be seen on the wrong side of the corn dog. That may be one rule that a majority of voters can agree on.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re out of touch\u2026<\/h2>\n

Other politicians are either unaware \u2013 or don\u2019t care \u2013 about their elitism.<\/p>\n

In 1972, the beer-swilling, working-class regulars in a Youngstown, Ohio bar cringed when Democratic vice presidential candidate Sargent Shriver hollered<\/a>, \u201cMake mine a Courvoisier!\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1988, Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis suggested to debt-ridden Iowa farmers<\/a> that they grow Belgian endive<\/a>, a bitter, leafy green seldom found outside of gourmet restaurants. Almost 20 years later, fellow Democrat Barack Obama told those same farmers that arugula might bring in more profits<\/a> than corn and soybeans.<\/p>\n

Obama also made the mistake of asking for Dijon mustard \u2013 and no ketchup \u2013 for his cheeseburger. Fox News host Sean Hannity let him have it, calling him \u201cPresident Poupon<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The producers of an infamous 2004 attack ad<\/a> damned Democratic presidential aspirant Howard Dean for his elitism. Not surprisingly, food played a role.<\/p>\n

Dean, the ad sneered, was a \u201clatte-drinking, sushi-eating, Volvo-driving, New York Times-reading, body-piercing, Hollywood-loving, left-wing freak show.\u201d<\/p>\n