July 19, 2016
As far back as anyone can remember, politicos on the campaign slog have swung by places like the Iowa State Fair to chomp into a pork chop on a stick or, of course, South Philadelphia just to show off their cheesesteak-ordering skills. It is, by now, expected of a candidate: staged photo ops that have somehow become a quintessential — if eyebrow-raising — element of the American political process.
Here, Temple University strategic communications professor Bruce Hardy, who lectures on the role of food in politics, teases out why that cheesesteak chomp for the cameras is, and will remain, such a crucial component of campaigns.
Why do people care so much about what politicians are eating, where they’re eating it and how they’re eating it? Coming to mind: John Kerry’s Swiss cheese disaster in 2004, Scott Walker's American cheese order last year and John Kasich eating pizza with a fork.
There are a bunch of other examples of those food faux pas, too, but I think it comes down to this notion of how closely food is connected within a community. Second to language, food is probably one of the most community-tying things we have. If you think about the way we talk about foods, we usually talk about them in terms of geography — Italian food, Indian food, Chinese food and a Philly cheesesteak. When you go to a community as a candidate, you really want people to think you care about people in that community — ‘Oh, this candidate cares about me.’ For people to look like an outsider, or out of touch. You hear it in campaign ads all the time – ‘This person is out of touch. They don’t understand you.’ It’s a very effective message to get a person to vote or not vote. And I think that’s where it comes from, coming to Pat’s and Geno’s and saying ‘whiz wit,’ as opposed to ‘Swiss cheese’ makes you look like you actually understand Philadelphia. The people in the community.
It’s political theater, though, too. It’s not like locals are all flocking to Pat’s and Geno’s and ordering it that way.
No, of course. It’s almost kind of silly because not every Philadelphian even thinks Pat’s and Geno’s is the place to take their friends and family to for a cheesesteak, right? Everyone has their favorites. But it’s — the candidate could go down to South Philly and get a tomato pie and get the same message out. So, in a way, it’s kind of become this generic campaign stop to say ‘OK, here we are in Philadelphia. Let’s eat our cheesesteak.’
That messaging seems to translate to larger communities too, and not just hyperlocal ones — thinking about Trump eating that taco salad as if it was some great, authentic taco salad representative of Latin food, for example.
Right. And it looked like something you'd get out of a cafeteria, right? So a lot of people had an issue with that. Going back to, I think Ford when he lost to Carter, he ate a unshucked tamale, and the Hispanic voters were, like, shocked that somebody didn’t know how to eat a tamale. And we also see these kind of, you know, with Dukakis he was out there telling farmers they should grow Belgian endives, instead of whatever cash crop they were growing, and I remember Obama going to a coal mine community in Pennsylvania, and asking if they’d been to Whole Foods and seen the price of arugula lately. This luxury green. So, there’s this sense of ‘I’m out of touch.’ And that's why you always see the candidates coming into local bars, drinking beer. Coming into Philadelphia and getting a lager, that kind of thing. Connecting with people that way.
Where did the phenomenon of candidates eating food as a political stunt start? The advent of video and photos?
I’d say it started when campaigns became much more national. And it’s also, yes, photos and video … But I think now, walking with a sea of reporters with you, everybody has a cell phone and it’s become something where I’m sure they’re doing so much research — each of these campaigns — to make sure the candidates are ordering the exact correct food and eating it the correct way people eat it.
Is there any proof that fumbling a bit with a cheesesteak order has ever damaged a campaign?
That’s a great experiment I may now put into place. We could totally do a Philadelphia example; I could have a fictitious candidate … or people running for state assembly or something, saying they ordered a cheesesteak with Swiss cheese and lettuce on it and see [how voters react]. It’s a great idea! But I don't believe there's any [current] research on it.
Do you know when the Pat’s and Geno’s photo ops started? Is that more recent?
No, I think that’s been around for about as long as Pat's and Geno's has been Pat's and Geno's. I was digging around to see if I could go back and find the first time a candidate went there but couldn’t find a definitive beginning. It’s one of those stops that when you come into Philadelphia you go there, just like with Reading Terminal Market.
There’s no Hillary cheesesteak photo yet. Maybe that’ll happen next week?
She’s a careful person — she’s very careful. Maybe she realizes it might be a landmine for her, that the photo op might not look attractive or something. She’s very careful on the campaign.
Is this something that’s become more important in politics as time’s gone on? Especially with social media?
Yes. I think it’s way more important. I think people are voting more and more on trait-based decisions rather than policy-based ones. And some research, if you ask people what’s more important — policy or traits — or equally important, at least more than the majority say their traits are more or at least equally as important as policy issues. And I think that’s one of the things you can point to — ‘OK that person understands people like me and that's very important and therefore they'll do the policy that favors people like me.’ It’s a quick way to see if you like the candidate or not.
Cheesesteaks are pretty important to policy.
It’s ridiculous, right? But at the same time, it’s like anything. Like when Obama went bowling in 2008 or 2012, and his first ball was a gutter ball. In Altoona, Pennsylvania. It was a huge deal. Sports is another one. If you came to Philadelphia and said ‘Go Steelers!’ and were confused what part of the state you were in, well, that would be the end of it.
