Staff Blog
The Great Di Bruno Bros. Democratic Candidate Sandwich Taste-Off of 2008: Who do we want in our mouths?
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| Photo | Amanda Scott's Obama Blog |
The folks over at our favorite place with long lines, Di Bruno Bros., have been running a cheeky straw poll of sorts in anticipation of the April 22 Democratic primary: They've created sandwiches representing each of the candidates, and are tallying up sales in lieu of votes up until this Tuesday. (As of April 17, Hillary had a slim eight-sammie lead on Barry.)
As much as we wanted to curse Di Bruno's for weaseling their way into our harried editorial lives this campaign season, we simply could not resist the allure of politically themed lunch. (And foreal, who can stay mad at Di Bruno's? They have so much cheese.) Several CP staffers recently spent the better part of a noontime meeting tearing through both sandwiches. We then made a gut decision.
*crickets*
Photos and totally expert findings after the jump.
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| Photo | Nadia Stadnycki |
This is the messy-in-a-fun-way Barack Bratwurst, which our panel swiftly and not-so-cleverly truncated to the portmanteau "Barackwurst." The sandwich features the famed Teutonic sausage placed on a Windy City-style poppy seed bun. Accoutrement include cheese and kobe beef chili. Hahaha. Barackwurst.
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| Photo | Nadia Stadnycki |
This is the slightly more compact Hillary Clinton Big City Sandwich, a Jewish deli-style dealie that piles pastrami, pickled tomatoes, olive tapenade, thin-shaved onion, Swiss and spicy mustard on pumpernickel.
- First, my own wholly apolitical take: I like sausages very much, so I chose the Barackwurst. Very good. (B: 1 H: 0)
Here are some opinions from my colleagues:
- "Despite the Barackwurst's obvious man-and-his-sausage sandwich phallic connection, it was fucking awesome. I don't think he has to try so hard with the kobe [chili], though, if he's trying to appeal to average Sloppy Joe-eating joes like you and me. I was not impressed with the Hillary — the pickled tomatoes were too tart, and the mustard might have been trying to be spicy, but I found it a little bland. Kind of like how I feel about Hillary, actually." —Arts Editor/Copy Editor Carolyn Huckabay (B: 2 H: 0)
- "The Hillary was substantive, with a surprisingly snippy bite to it. Later, I could feel it dodging sniper fire." —Senior Editor Patrick Rapa (B: 2 H: 1)
- "Both the sandwiches were too busy. Like, for Obama: Couldn't taste the bratwurst under all that chili (which, to be fair, was yummy). Hillary: Same problem. Too much going on. Between the olives and the cheese and the weird pickled tomatoes, I could not focus on the pastrami." —Associate Editor Tami Fertig (ABSTAIN!)
- "Much like the former First Lady, the sandwich has all the ingredients of a big winner: pastrami, various green and pickled condiments, swiss cheese and the aptly chosen spicy mustard. But despite all of the sandwich's seductive characteristics, the flavors competed with each other in my mouth instead of blending together smoothly and confidently like a good sandwich candidate should." —Editorial intern/food photographer Nadia Stadnycki (UNCLEAR!)
OK, so it's two votes for Barack, one for Hillary and two for the terrorists. Though Obama has the numbers advantage, I'm not even sure if this can be chalked up as a legit victory considering the shenanigans that went down at the polling place (somebody ordered pizza during voting). Since I'm reluctant to consider trying any McCain-themed food, I think we need to bring a third-party candidate in to shake things up.
What would a Mike Gravel-themed sandwich have on it?
Take the Brat! Seriously, please vote based on the issues, not the distractions like the food, or the attack politics raised by ABC at their “debate” last week.
Senator Barack Obama has been right on more issues than the other Presidential candidates.
Senator Obama was the only candidate who had the judgment necessary to take a stand against our misguided war in Iraq from the start.
Obama is the candidate has most consistently called for America to end the wild goose chase in Iraq and redirect its might to the unfinished business of finally tracking down the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11.
Obama has been the strongest candidate on cleaning up Washington. He spearheaded major ethics reform laws in Congress. He is the only candidate to reject money from registered lobbyists. He is the only candidate to pass laws showing where all our government money spent on contractors is going.
Senator Obama is the only candidate who had the foresight not to vote for Bush’s warmongering resolution last Fall declaring Iran’s military to be terrorists. Only weeks later we learned that at the same time the President was painting the imminent picture of a nuclear-armed Iran, a secret top-level National Intelligence Estimate report had found that Iran stopped its nuclear weapons development in 2003 and probably hasn’t restarted it since then. The other candidates as recently as last Fall fell into the trap of nearly going down the path towards another unnecessary war we cannot afford.
Obama is the candidate who is inspiring people with a clear and consistent message of unity and hope for change. He is the only candidate who understands that the usual grind it out, Washington attack politics has not worked and will not work to bring real and lasting change to America. Without a unity of purpose and hope, no change can stick. Future politicians will tear down any change that does not have broad and unified support.
Of all the Presidential candidates, Obama has shown the most promise in being able to deliver. He has proven he has the ability to execute on his message. He managed and organized his campaign better than the other candidates. He went from being the long-shot to taking the lead in delegates, the popular vote and states won. Senator Obama has tried to stay on the high road and has been the most honest with Americans in his campaign. He has done something big right, in a big way.
Senator Obama is not perfect, but he is our best hope. Please vote to enable us, the People, to take the next steps to changing America for the better with President Obama leading the way.
In Wisconsin, it is treason to treat a brat in this manner. Chicago is known for it’s Italian cuisine, not German. Please visit Miller Park any game day, and ask a true brat fan what they think of this monstrosity.
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