Usually, when politicians pander to voters, it involves them flipping a pancake at a local Fourth of July event, or kissing a baby at a rally, but those traditional techniques seem boring to the two candidates fighting to be the Democrat nominee for the U.S. Senate.
In June, Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver made a cringy video, featuring her “making lunch” in her kitchen, supposedly meant for her donors to contribute to her campaign before the 2nd Quarter filing deadline. The sloppily-staged video featured a brown paper bag with the word “MAX” written in black Sharpie, a bag of tiny carrots, and what appeared to be an almond butter sandwich (with no jelly or jam).
In the video, Toulouse Oliver said “I’m Maggie Toulouse Oliver, and I am running to be the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from New Mexico. And I’m also a single mom; I’m packing my son, Max’s lunch, and I’m trying to balance this with all of my responsibilities, including trying to raise money for a critical fundraising deadline coming up in just a few days. I’m not taking any corporate PAC money in this campaign, so if there is anything you can do to help – if you could give five, then dollars, or whatever you can afford, it will really go a long way. Thanks!”
At the end of the video, Oliver appeared to try to cut the (jelly-less) almond butter sandwich in half, while bidding adieu to viewers.
A few months later, in August, Ben Ray Luján seemed to be wanting to capitalize on this new food marketing craze, by sharing the most pixelated video possibly imaginable, with his tweet reading “Enjoying the magic of Frito Pie! Cheers,” while he scarfed down spoonfuls of the delicious New Mexican food.
Luján appeared to be eating the pie in a moving car, with what appears to be the driver shooting the video, unless there may have been someone in the back seat with a very good vantage point of Lujan in the passenger seat. You be the judge.
So, what is driving these politicians to move on to the next frontier (food) to try and win this Senate campaign? Maybe they are onto something if they pick the right foods.
When President Trump ate his infamous taco bowl on Cinco De Mayo while running for president, it became instant Twitter gold, with media a buzz about his delicious Latino food selection.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sparked much conversation with her deep Instagram video, where she debated popcorn flavors in front of the nation.
Maybe there’s something there. But if it gets out of hand, members of Congress will have a political food fight instead of an annual Democrat vs. Republican baseball game. Hey, maybe that’s what the nation’s been waiting for!
Although Ben Ray Luján’s video was pixelated, his Frito pie did appear to be delicious, so he MUST have something there. Unfortunately, Maggie’s dry-looking almond sandwich just doesn’t make the cut. If she is serious about winning this election, she needs to be devouring a chile Relleno next time, or at least put a little jelly in the mix. Or maybe just stick to the old classic Frito pie, like Luján. Let’s see if she learns her lesson in her next video. But judging by both these politicians’ political stances, their next posts will feature #EnchiladasForAll.