I saw an ad on Facebook that immediately caught my attention. And it didn’t cause me to either hide it for being inane or report it for being obnoxious.
“You may have heard that Minnesotans love a good hotdish. Amy is no exception,” said Democratic presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar’s new promotion.
And so, in exchange for a donation to her campaign — even as little as $1 — she’ll share a favorite recipe with you, so you can make it and enjoy it in your very own home
Now, I love a good hotdish, too. (The word — one word, not two — is Minnesotan for “casserole.”) I even offered recipes for this hearty classic in a story ahead of the 2018 Super Bowl that was played in Minneapolis.
I also referenced the Minnesota Congressional Delegation Hotdish Competition that former senator Al Franken created in 2011, inviting his fellow senators and representatives to celebrate their homey cuisine and culture in an annual bipartisan event.
Ms. Klobuchar’s Taconite Tater Tot Hot Dish — a tried-and-true version with ground beef, cream of mushroom and chicken soups, gooey Pepper Jack cheese, and the near-requisite topping of crispy tater tots — won that inaugural cook-off.
“Given the fine quality of the other hotdishes, this is truly an honor,” she said graciously in her victory speech.
(Spoiler alert: The tater tot-topped hotdish already available online is the recipe being sent to donors. I paid the minimum $1 to confirm my suspicion, after recognizing it in the ad’s illustration.)
Is this tactic an attempt to soften Ms. Klobuchar’s image, given her usually solid and serious demeanor?
Is this an appeal to the suburban moms who are considered critical to the upcoming presidential election — women who strive to put a wholesome, kid-friendly meal on the table each night?
Is this fund-raising effort also raising issues about working women and traditional family roles? After all, I haven’t seen Sen. Bernie Sanders offer his favorite kugel recipe (a sweet noodle dish akin to Jewish hotdish) or claim to be the one preparing it for the upcoming High Holidays.
To my mind, Ms. Klobuchar’s campaign tactic is all of the above. But that’s not why we’re gathered here today. (Space constraints limit my ability to really delve into these discussions.)
Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Mayor Pete Buttigieg are also going the homespun fund-raising route.
“Every so often while I’m traveling around the country, I’ll have someone come up to me and say, ‘I’d love to grab a beer with you,” Ms. Warren has tweeted.
Her campaign is therefore running a Grab a Beer (or Coffee or Tea or Whatever) with Elizabeth contest, offering an opportunity to sit, sip, and spend time with the candidate at a location to be determined.
Mr. Buttigieg is inviting donors to join him in his hometown of South Bend, Ind: “Pizza is always better with company,” he says in the video filmed at his favorite spot (which, I must note, shows the crime of cutting the pizza into squares).
Democrats have been leading the way in garnering democratic micro-donations that add up to considerable campaign contributions. But I don’t remember ever seeing such a display of everyman/woman folksiness as these three appeals demonstrate.
I suppose now we wait to see how Joe Biden jumps on the Average Jo(e)-ness fund-raising bandwagon.
First Published September 18, 2019, 2:09 a.m.
