Sep 2, 2024
the new york times’ political coverage generally sucks but I, too, hope that Tim Walz gets to eat all his favorite foods at the fair
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the new york times’ political coverage generally sucks but I, too, hope that Tim Walz gets to eat all his favorite foods at the fair
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WHY US? WHY NOW?
Politicians are not perfect people. Voting, especially in the US, is not a perfect system. It's not the be-all end-all of political action and it certainly does not fix everything wrong with our nation and political system. It certainly does not fix the United States' complicity in the Palestinian genocide or its other atrocities overseas.
BUT.
The Harris campaign, by virtue of choosing Tim Walz over any of the other options, more has already demonstrated its willingness to listen to its would-be constituents over voices and donors from within the Democratic party urging them to choose a running mate who caters to the moderate center. In this choice, Harris has already demonstrated that she is flexible: she is not immune to pressure from the people she hopes to govern. This alone gives us as voters and constituents so much more leverage to apply pressure on her administration to achieve political victories we actually want: a ceasefire in Gaza, universal healthcare, nationwide abortion access, protected trans rights and trans healthcare, and more.
There is SO MUCH on the line in this election — and so many of the issues at risk this year are or are adjacent to fat liberation and queer issues:
Healthcare and prescription reform
Racial equity and justice
Abortion access (reminder that Plan B is less effective for those over 155 lbs!)
Trans rights, safety, and healthcare access
LGBTQIA+ rights
Disability rights and healthcare (including Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security)
Environmental reform and climate change mitigation
Public health and vaccine funding
Public education funding and related infrastructure
Labor rights
We have a lot to lose this year. But if we can elect an administration that is at least invested in moving forward, we'll also have a lot to gain.
SO, WHAT CAN I DO?
Check your voter registration!
Text voters and help them register!
Phonebank or textbank for blue candidates!
Write postcards to voters in swing states!
Knock doors if you're able!
Join a voter protection & registration hotline!
Donate to your local candidates (find them here)!
If you're not sure where to start, these organizations host tons of events you can get involved with:
Democrats.org
Democratic Volunteer Center
Field Team 6
Mobilize
Sister District
Swing Blue
Swing Left
Vote Save America
WHY TIM WALZ?
The guy gets it. Need I say more?
The Harris-Walz campaign’s embrace of food is a signal.
Food is one of the most universally beloved things on planet Earth. Aligning a presidential campaign with it is smart for all the obvious reasons, but for the Harris-Walz ticket, it’s also a signal. The rhetorical challenge of progressivism is that it is by nature abstract: It imagines a world that does not yet exist, rather than advocating to return to some previous version of the one we know. [...] In foregrounding food, Harris and Walz are making theirs the candidacy of terrestrial pleasure and straightforward abundance.
The governor of Minnesota and possible future vice president’s hotdish recipe is, uh, a lot. It involves, among other things, whole milk, half-and-half, two types of meat, three cups of cheese (specifically Kraft), nearly a stick of butter, and a full package of Tater Tots. It is gluttonous, deeply midwestern, and, I am sure, delicious. Indeed, Walz won the Minnesota Congressional Delegation’s hotdish cook-off in 2013, 2014, and 2016.
Tim Walz loves food. He loves corn dogs, and the all-you-can-drink milk booth at the Minnesota state fair, and—I’m sorry to have to be the one to tell you this—dunking cinnamon rolls in chili. He gets excited about soda. He posts pictures of his sandwiches. He loves to eat so much that people on X are already writing short-form fan fiction about it. Throughout his political career, but especially recently, he has gone out of his way to talk about food, the fattier and folksier the better. Last week, in a discussion with CNN’s Jake Tapper that was ostensibly about Joe Biden’s mental fitness, Walz recounted receiving a call from the president while eating the Minnesota delicacy Juicy Lucy, a hamburger stuffed with cheese. The next day, he posted on X about a different award-winning hotdish recipe of his, this one involving two separate kinds of canned soup.
We are witnessing what might be the most food-centric presidential campaign in American history. Kamala Harris is, by all accounts, an exceptional and enthusiastic home cook, and has made cooking part of her political brand—surely an intentional calculation, given the negative connotations that might arise when the potential first woman president openly embraces domesticity. In 2019, she offered an off-the-cuff lesson in turkey brining while getting mic’d up to go on television: “Just lather that baby up,” she said, eyes bright. The next year, she started an amateur cooking show; on it, she cracks an egg with one hand and bonds with Mindy Kaling over the fact that their parents both stored spices in old Taster’s Choice jars. She laughs a lot in the kitchen.
Unlike her running mate, Harris seems unlikely to throw four kinds of dairy in the oven for dinner—she’s a Californian, and she cooks like one: swordfish with toasted cardamom for her pescatarian stepdaughter, herb-flecked Mediterranean meatballs on an Instagram Live with the celebrity chef Tom Colicchio. But she’s not immune to the humble charms of ice cream, gumbo, Popeye’s chicken, red-velvet cupcakes, or bacon, which she describes as a “spice” in her household. She comes off as sincere in her love of food but discerning in her tastes. When a 10-year-old recently asked her at an event what her favorite taco filling was, she answered with the kind of absorbed expression that she might otherwise display when explaining foreign policy on the debate stage: carnitas with cilantro and lime, no raw onions.
Invoking food on the campaign trail is a cliché for a reason: Eating is an easy and extremely literal way to prove that you are a human being. But the Democratic Party has not always been great at it. In 2003, John Kerry visited the Philadelphia cheesesteak institution Pat’s and asked for a sandwich not with the traditional Whiz, American, or Provolone, but with Swiss. If voters needed proof that he was something other than the eggheady elitist they thought he was, this wasn’t it: In Philly, Swiss is “an alternative lifestyle,” The Philadelphia Inquirer’s food critic, Craig LaBan, said at the time. One does not get the sense that Walz or Harris would stride into Pat’s and ask for Swiss—not because they’re self-consciously avoiding a gaffe, but because they have deep respect for America’s foodways and are interested in enjoying food however it is meant to be enjoyed.
Their approach makes a marked departure both from the Obama era—what with its well-meaning but not entirely fun focus on childhood obesity, and its notorious seven almonds—and from the current leaders of the Republican Party. Donald Trump doesn’t really talk about liking eating; he does, famously, consume a lot of fast food, but that is reportedly because he’s afraid of being poisoned, not because fast food tastes amazing. His most well-known food tweet—“Happy #CincoDeMayo! The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics!”—reads like an obligatory plug rather than an earnest celebration of the way the taco bowl itself looks, smells, and tastes: all business, no pleasure. Meanwhile, Trump’s running mate, J. D. Vance, says he loves Diet Mountain Dew, but he seems mostly to be mad about it. To the degree that he has gotten specific about why he likes the beverage, the praise is purely functional: “high caffeine, low calorie.” The primary message here is that food is the site not of delight and togetherness but of anxiety and alienation, or utilitarianism at best. It’s all a little, well, weird.
Food is one of the most universally beloved things on planet Earth. Aligning a presidential campaign with it is smart for all the obvious reasons, but for the Harris-Walz ticket, it’s also a signal. The rhetorical challenge of progressivism is that it is by nature abstract: It imagines a world that does not yet exist, rather than advocating to return to some previous version of the one we know. I find it telling that Walz keeps using the word joy when he talks about the campaign and about his running mate. It’s an uncomplicated message, one that’s even more concrete than Barack Obama’s hope: Hope is the future, but joy is the present. It’s cold milk on a hot day; a perfectly cracked egg; a steaming casserole dish full of God knows what, enjoyed at a crowded table. In foregrounding food, Harris and Walz are making theirs the candidacy of terrestrial pleasure and straightforward abundance. It’s simple, really. —Ellen Cushing
DID YOU KNOW? every state besides North Dakota requires people to register to be able to vote.
make sure to check that your voter registration is up to date before it's too late! find your state's deadlines under the cut, as well as links to start, confirm, and update your voter registration!
local and state elections are just as important as the presidential election — if not more!
find your local races, candidate info, and election dates here!
research local candidates and policies with Ballotpedia!
vote early if your state allows it!
your voice is important — make sure it's heard!
see if your town/city has a vote-by-mail option and make sure to get your application in by the deadline if so! this is a great time of year to check your registration and apply for a mail-in ballot.
if your state supports early voting, you can find your date or deadline here!
if you're voting in person, make sure you know your precinct and polling location before election day!
check here to see if your state has a primary election coming up in late August or September.
be sure to research your local candidates and ballots before election day!
look for local textbanking and postcard events in your area! the big organizations are great for finding more widespread efforts, but your town or city might also have a dedicated team running events or fundraisers.
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hey did you know that you can get strega nona stamps? and you can put them on postcards to swing state voters via activate america??
just saying 💁🏻♀️