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Feature
Super Tuesday Eat Sheet
What the candidates eat says a lot about how they position themselves
This election season the politicians vying for the Democratic and Republican nominations have been asked about their policies on a predictable raft of issues, from Iraq to health care to immigration. It’s information you may well need to use on Super Tuesday, February 5, if you live in one of the 24 states that will be making a choice.
But what about the candidates’ domestic policies—at home, in their kitchens? Fortunately for us, the Associated Press looked into this during a series of personal questions with the presidential hopefuls. We’ve summarized its food findings into a downloadable chart (take it into the voting booth!) and interpreted the answers for your voting ease.
| Candidate | Favorite Food to Cook |
Shunned Food | What We Think They Mean |
|---|---|---|---|
| DEMOCRATS |  |
 |
 |
 Hillary Clinton |
“I’m a lousy cook, but I make pretty good |
“I like nearly everything. I don’t like, you know, |
I make the safe choice: eggs and food that’s already dead. |
 John Edwards |
Hamburgers | “I can’t stand mushrooms. I don’t want them on anything that I eat. And I have had to eat them because you get food served and it’s sitting there and you’re starving, so you eat.” |
Do you care? It doesn’t matter. I’m so honest I’m boring. |
 Barack Obama |
Chili |
“Beets, and I always avoid eating them.” |
I’m out of touch with my root vegetables. |
| REPUBLICANS | |||
 Rudy Giuliani |
Hamburgers or steak on the grill |
Liver |
In the days following 9/11 I still hated liver. |
 Mike Huckabee |
Rib-eye steak on the grill |
“Carrots. I just don’t like carrots. I banned them from the governor’s mansion when I was governor of Arkansas because I could.” |
Next, I’ll make everybody lose 20 pounds. Because I can. |
 John McCain |
Baby back ribs |
“I eat almost everything. Sometimes I don’t do |
Like my fellow Republican candidates, I think vegetables are too liberal. |
 Mitt Romney |
Hot dog |
“Eggplant, in any shape or form. And I’ve always been able to avoid it.” |
I eat the food of the people, even in my skybox. I might like eggplant if I were drunk, but I’ll never know. |
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Wow, i actually have one thing in common with Mittens. Don't tell anyone.
What happened to Rep candidate Ron Paul?
Let's not forget Ron Paul!
Some googling tells me his favorite food to cook: Chocolate Chip Cookies.
With his favorite food to eat: Tilapia.
What about the stand that these candidates have on issues such as sustainable agriculture or the use of cloned animals for meat? I'm curious to know their stance in issues that might affect our stomachs over the next four to eight years. Also, are there any candidates that don't have such vanilla food preferences? I mean steaks, hot dogs, SCRAMBLED EGGS...for Pete's sake, are White House dinner functions now going to consist of burgers and hot dogs?
Nah, it's just the product of spending months campaigning in Iowa. I'm surprised no one mentioned corn on the cob.
I'd like to point out that the photo shows Hillary eating what (judging from the plate next to her) appear to be pretty authentic tacos, with her hands, off a paper plate. Seems like she'd be cool to go taco trucking with! My understanding is that the cuisine at the White House during the Clinton administration was light years ahead of what was served under either Bush I or Bush II (who fired the Clintons' chef: http://swiftreport.blogs.com/news/200...
Part of me is disappointed none of the food choices were more interesting. I KNOW at least a few of them have been fortunate enough to dine all over the world. However, I am also a little relieved. If any of the candidates put as much time, thought, and effort into food as most of us do, well, saying their respective offices would be a bit neglected would probably be an understatement.
Because they think all Americans are stupid so they play it safe. That way they can(try) hide their elitist ways. I'm no fan of McCain but at least he knows ribs.
But eggs,burgers and hot dogs?
I always pictured Rudy looking like Grandpa Fungalli making a big Italian feast.
Their favorite foods to cook may bear no resemblance to their favorite foods to eat. Somehow I don't think any of these people got where they are by spending a lot of time in the kitchen. Thus, the foods they cook are simple and fairly traditional (the men's are all BBQ/grill favorites, a traditional male cooking role, and scrambled eggs are your basic all-purpose easy, quick, basic ingredients dish).
Actually, these questions just reinforced my candidate preference, since I love beets and hate mushrooms!
I agree, Ruth, although chili takes a lot more *work* than just plunking some meat on the grill.
I'm just waiting for the candidate to say they love broccoli. A lot. Of course, that might only be a popular response in a Democratic primary...
ruth, your link doesn't work but I know the story. I think you're a bit biased in your opinion of the Bush adminstration's food: they're good ol' Texans and like their tex-mex and I don't find anything wrong with that. Personally, i would rather have a chef that cooks the food I like and not just French or whatever, which you may get tired of. By the way, Lara Bush fired the White House Chef because he refused to follow a request of the Bush's. They had some corporate people over and she asked the chef to incorporate some of their food products into his menu for that dinner: he was angry so Lara fired his non-compliant behind. Something that i find to be justifiable since he is your employee.
what? no pizza on that list?
Ribs for president!
McCain loves cooking ribs! That means he's the best choice for president among the current crop of hopefuls. Don't believe me? I'll prove it to you:
1. We all agree cooking ribs isn't for everyone to do. It's not fast and easy like scrambling an egg or frying a burger. It's involved, time-consuming and requires effort. Just like being pregnant or president.
2. Rib cooks have to devote enormous amounts of time to their cooking, starting from different types of charcoal to sauces (dipping or mop?) and their ingredients to rubs (wet or dry?) and their ingredients to cooking times and temperatures, to proper butchering techniques, to presentation skills.
3. A rib man is a man who knows what he wants, is prepared to work to get it, and is in it for the whole game. He's not going to give up when things get uncomfortable (cold, rainy, hot, dry, et al) or expensive. He knows what he wants, knows what he's doing, and he's there. The man is dedicated!
4. Honestly, look at the other candidates, regardless of party. Would any of them know how to handle themselves with a hot grill and a full rack of babybacks? Nope, nope, nope. You know it, I know it. Hillary would walk around looking helpless, Romney would hire it done, Giulani would get his brother-in-law to do it for $50 under the table, Huckabee would try but he'd get distracted and forget what he was doing, Edwards would laugh nervously and poke at the ribs with a BBQ fork, and Obama would try to cook the ribs but simply lack feel for the meat and burn them.
McCain certainly isn't perfect, but the fact he's a rib man is enough confirmation he's the guy we need in the White House to steer us out of the swamp we're in right now.
KenWritez as a rib man myself(baby backs) I can say that you make a strong case for McCain. I still won't vote for him.
But I also admire saying baby backs. Sure they're more expensive and I consider them to be the "filet mignon" of ribs.
But he wasn't afraid to admit that he'd spend the extra buck.
Unlike some of these others that "feel my pain".
that picture of Hilary Clinton was taken at King Taco (LA's food of the common people) in Boyle Heights while having lunch with the Mayor.
http://www.losanjealous.com/2008/01/1...
While some people may consider a photo op like this an easy way to pander, a taco is a pretty gutsy choice for someone who is campaigning and has to look impeccable for the cameras. Just imagine how the press would have had gone into a feeding frenzy if she'd dribbled some salsa on her blouse (thus the careful grip on the taco and the hunched-over posture -- clearly this woman has a lot of experience eating messy food on the campaign trail)!
I think it's amusing that (with the exception of Clinton's eggs, and only possibly Obama's chili), all the faves are MEATS. And most of the "hated" foods are VEGGIES...remember Bush's idiotic anti-broccoli comments? Do we REALLY need another President who has such moronic eating habits?
Morticia: it was the elder, George H.W. Bush, who didn't like broccoli and he wasn't a bad president at all. Anyways, I think it's really dumb, no stupid, to judge someone solely on the fact that they don't eat a vegetable. For all we know, he could have been a supertaster and disliked the taste of broccoli. We all have strange eating habits, some that we probably aren't too proud of as foodies and it would be wrong of us to judge others.
I think hating veggies shows a lack of vision and imagination. Also, pandering to the youth vote, since kids notoriously hate veggies. That said, it's easy to understand the prevalence of vegetables (although not all vegetables, Mr. McCain), on hate lists, simply because there are so many of them compared to other food groups and because they do have strong, distinctive tastes. The foods I hate are mostly veggies -- although come to think of it, they're mostly technically fruits (most notably avocadoes).
I bet Dennis Kucinich makes a mean tofu scramble. On second thought, it's probably not mean at all. Probably pretty compassionate and forward thinking.
I like that Clinton didn't just say scrambled eggs, but soft scrambled eggs. I hate rubbery dry scrambled eggs, and I give her points for that.
NO TO HILLARY! I just don't trust a lousy cook to run the country.
I find it just horrible that none of these candidates like any of the earthier vegetables. Gott in Himmel, is there any hope for us???
I ran across this in the wikipedia article on Hillary: "[In 1969], she worked her way across Alaska, washing dishes in Mount McKinley National Park and sliming salmon in a fish processing cannery in Valdez (which fired her and shut down overnight when she complained about unhealthy conditions)."
Makes me think she really meant it that she wasn't fussy about food and would eat anything that was dead!
Personally, I'd vote for a FAT lady for president, but not a fat guy. "Never trust a skinny cook!"
Great so Chowhound also doesn't participate in fair democracy either. Where's RON PAUL??