MADISON, Wis. — Politicians who visit diners know the deal: In exchange for photos establishing their working-class bona fides, they must cheerfully accept heaping portions of unsolicited advice.
But on Tuesday at Monty’s Blue Plate Diner here in Madison, one of the first people to approach Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Wisconsin, took the tradition to a new level, presenting him with a typed-up list of concerns about his campaign....
Monty’s Blue Plate Diner! That's not the working-class diner an innocent reader will picture. It's a restaurant styled like a 1950s diner for the amusement of upscale, highly educated Madison people. You can get a breakfast sandwich at 3 times the price of an Egg McMuffin. You can get something called the "Heathen Vegan Shoplifter's Delight" (portobellos, fried tempeh, avocado, and grilled red onion with lemon-tahini dressing on a baguette).
The Democratic Party candidate is on super-safe territory here. The NYT reader should not be visualizing a folksy small town place like you might see in a movie.
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58 comments:
Democrats have limited messaging opportunities.
They either lie lie lie about the other guy, yammer on about abortion - or scare voters about__________ and the scary evil Trump Trump Trump guy! - which I think people are tired of.
Especially in light of the fact that life was GOOD under Trump. Life now. under Mob boss Biden? It sucks.
The Cottage Cafe in Madison is a real work class diner. I ate there twice. Excellent food, but the parking lot is terrible. 4 star review by DDB on Yelp. Total is 4.5 stars.
Ann? Meade? Have you been there?
"You can get something called the "Heathen Vegan Shoplifter's Delight" (portobellos, fried tempeh, avocado, and grilled red onion with lemon-tahini dressing on a baguette)."
Dear God! How could anyone but Michelle Obama actually eat anything like that?
Around here (North Dakota), the standard trick is a campaign ad filmed in a wheat field or on rangeland, with the candidate arrayed in jeans and a plaid shirt.
The word for these pols is "posers."
It should be of far greater concern to the Democratic Party that it’s being attacked in places like Madison rather than in Wisconsin’s Deplorable Hinterlands, the same way the Democratic Party should be gravely concerned when voters in San Francisco — San Francisco! — unceremoniously disposed of its left-wing school board and defund-the-police prosecutor by landslide margins.
Gus's Diner, Sun Prairie or The Pine Cone, Johnson Creek would have been more like it.
I have a problem with calling an ad listing your opponents positions as an "attack ad". Seems to me exactly what should be in an ad.
As for Monty's, yeah. Upper crust.
To the elites of Manhattan, everything off the island is blue collar.
There's a diner in Summit NJ that will smother you with large portions of everything for a more or less normal price, or there was in the 90s, across from the railroad station. Blue collar customers.
You mean no "what'll it be, hon?" from a gal in a greasy apron? Try Country Pride in a TA Truck stop--yeah, its a chain but if you want blue collar cred, they serve a nice biscuits n' gravy.
I bet Barnes would have liked to have been photographed in those white boots. That would be real bona fides!
If he gone to a real diner, nobody would have confronted him with a list of his campaign's problems, because none of the patrons would have cared who he was. Most people want to be left alone, and a good, frequented diner is their place to be left alone by everybody that's not there on a daily basis.
It's ironic working class bona fides. Lucky the knuckle draggers don't know they're being made fun of.
I would like to extend my personal thanks to NY Times commenter "Johnny" from Milwaukee, Wisconsin for introducing me to the clever portmanteau "Wississippi."
This will come in handy in the future. Very handy.
I also apologize to the language Gods it Wississippi is not technically a portmanteau.
Mandela Barnes was Lieutenant Governor and so spent time in Madison marinating in its choice liberal culture. He must have known that diner was to real diners what Erewhon is to Pick 'n Save. Well, when he loses he can always go to DC anyhow as a lobbyist and continue to ignore the agony of the black community in Milwaukee.
My Democratic congressional representative is running on a "stood up to Joe Biden" and "supports law enforcement" message. Things must be pretty bad out there.
I'm trying very hard to come up with a riff on "Shoplifter's Delight" and Barnes' positions on crime.
I got nothin, Prof.
One of the reasons that I'm not voting for any Democrats this election cycle is the use of the term "attack ads" by the media.
I've noticed that only Republicans run "attack ads." It's like the media has special words to use when a Democrat does something, and then negative violence words to be used to describe when a Republican does something.
For example, if a Democrat makes a huge mistake, like Kamala Harris did by saying they're only going to give hurricane relief to "communities of color" and Republicans criticize that approach ... then Republicans are "pouncing" and "seizing" on her position ... you know, like someone would seize you by the throat ... violence words. When the Democrat is advocating a racist position, and should receive criticism for that.
It almost seems like the people who work for the New York Times are a bunch of fucking assholes. And maybe I shouldn't vote for the assholes they vote for.
Around here (North Dakota), the standard trick is a campaign ad filmed in a wheat field or on rangeland, with the candidate arrayed in jeans and a plaid shirt.
The word for these pols is "posers."
@Ray Jacobsen, the absolutely certain way to tell if they are posers is if they walk across a cow pasture and never look down.
Mandela Barnes is for increased police funding after he was against it.
Bill Clinton is the only national politician who could pull off The Diner.
Is there a Wisconsin equivalent of "all hat, no cattle"? Maybe "all cheese, no dairy"?
I don't get it. You go into Dina's Diner and start quizzing a bunch of retired farmers as if they're a focus group. You break into somebody's conversation. Pull a chair up to a table.
Used to be said, maybe still is, a salesman coming into a small town should go to the diner to listen, not talk. Meal times, folks are there to eat meals. In between, it's retirees and local businessmen for coffee break and chatting with friends. Listen.
All very good, but the proportion of relevant subjects for a Salena Zito type must be pretty thin,
Actually, I got that wrong. Barnes is now for increasing police funding after he was for decreasing it.
Gettin' down with the hard scrabble of Jennifer Street.
Has he realized he isn't running against Sen. Scott Walker?
Easy mistake since "they all look the same".
I've noticed that only Republicans run "attack ads." It's like the media has special words to use when a Democrat does something, and then negative violence words to be used to describe when a Republican does something.
Kelly, in AZ, has spent millions on attack ads. I've seen no ads on his policies or record. The only "positive" ads I've seen are Kelly with supposed "Republicans" who claim to be the Mayors of cities they aren't.
"Politicians who visit diners know the deal: In exchange for photos establishing their working-class bona fides, they must cheerfully accept heaping portions of unsolicited advice."
Really, everyone would be so much better off if politicians could issue edicts and decrees isolated behind the thick stone walls of medieval-style capital cities, without any direct contact with the hoi polloi. Better still, just abolish campaigning and voting altogether.
On another note, one thing I do admire about Trump is that he doesn't pretend to be someone he isn't. Unless he is on the golf course, he'll be in a suit with polished shoes, even if he's visiting a construction site. I despise John Kerry, but I'm convinced he would have beaten Bush if he hadn't tried to pretend he was just a regular guy who wanted to "get me a hunting license." If you're a haughty patrician (or just naturally act like one), you're better off embracing it than trying to fool people.
rhhardin said..."There's a diner in Summit NJ that will smother you with large portions of everything for a more or less normal price, or there was in the 90s, across from the railroad station. Blue collar customers."
The Summit Diner is still there, and it's still very reasonably priced, despite being near the center of one of NJ's wealthiest commuter towns. The only knock on the place is that the food is average, at best, but the large portions are quickly and efficiently served. Cash only.
"It almost seems like the people who work for the New York Times are a bunch of fucking assholes."
"Almost seems like"? You get my vote for "Understatement of the Year". Maybe of the century, but that's still got some time to play out and one should never underestimate the ability of Democrats to burrow to the low water mark.
The only "positive" ads I've seen are Kelly with supposed "Republicans" who claim to be the Mayors of cities they aren't.
I mean, yeah, I could vote for the NY Times slate of candidates and then maybe my community could look like their community.
In their community, rapists and murderers are let out on no bail to kill and rape again.
In their community, people are routinely pushed to their deaths in front of subway trains.
In their community, you can walk into stores and if you're the proper color, you can just steal whatever you want and the white people can't do anything about it because they're racists. And the cops won't arrest you, cause they'll get fired. And the prosecutors of color won't take you to trial anyway.
Maybe I should rethink whether I want MY community to be a fucking dumpster fire shithole, like THEIR community.
Maybe elections have consequences, like Barack Obama warned us. He was one of the "clean ones" you know, according to Biden. Not like all those dirty blacks. Articulate.
The only "positive" ads I've seen are Kelly with supposed "Republicans" who claim to be the Mayors of cities they aren't.
I mean, yeah, I could vote for the NY Times slate of candidates and then maybe my community could look like their community.
In their community, rapists and murderers are let out on no bail to kill and rape again.
In their community, people are routinely pushed to their deaths in front of subway trains.
In their community, you can walk into stores and if you're the proper color, you can just steal whatever you want and the white people can't do anything about it because they're racists. And the cops won't arrest you, cause they'll get fired. And the prosecutors of color won't take you to trial anyway.
Maybe I should rethink whether I want MY community to be a fucking dumpster fire shithole, like THEIR community.
Maybe elections have consequences, like Barack Obama warned us. He was one of the "clean ones" you know, according to Biden. Not like all those dirty blacks. Articulate.
Barnes should visit a Cracker Barrel...
Roy Jacobsen said...
Around here (North Dakota), the standard trick is a campaign ad filmed in a wheat field or on rangeland, with the candidate arrayed in jeans and a plaid shirt.
The word for these pols is "posers."
There was a guy running for US Rep from Colorado (he was the incumbent!), that made a TV commerical; where he pretended to fly fish. Two things
a) they foolishly showed him making (trying to make) a cast.. He Obviously did NOT fish
b) they 'saved money' buying him a ONE DAY license (since he was NEVER going to fish again)
this, is THE DEFINITION of "poser"
Waffle House is my idea of fine dining. I never see pols campaigning there. I suspect the wouldn't let them if they wanted to.
I love what I think of as a new jersey style diner. Common in NJ but also Eastern PA and NY.
20 page menu that puts cheesecake factory to shame for variety.
They are rare outside of NJ. Lots of great diners around the us and I'll happily eat at most of them. But they seldom compare to NJ diners.
In carol Stream IL, try the red Robin diner on schmale road. Not NJ style but a great diner.
John stop fascism vote republican Henry
I don't know what happened to John Kasich, but I don't hold his eating habits against him.
Come to think of it, maybe what happened to Kasich is he could never forgive Trump criticizing his table manners.
Did we use to be so persnickety about people's eating habits? I suppose Ed Koch was very precise and exacting in everything he did, but if he wolfed down a sandwich and some of the filling fell out, would it really have cost him any votes? It might even have won him some.
Parting advice to politicians: don't eat pizza with a knife and fork.
Parting advice to the media: stop making a big deal about politicians eating pizza with a knife and fork.
Joe Biden was here Monday trying to store up the so-called hispanic vote.
Truly laughable since
1 we don't have any reps or senators
2 the pr vote in the upper 50 us reliably demmie
3 the Cuban-American vote is reliably repo and he won't peel many off them
4 Mexican-Americans pay about as much attention to Puerto Rico as we do to England. Yeah we both speak Spanish but other than that, little in common
John stop fascism vote republican Henry
"On another note, one thing I do admire about Trump is that he doesn't pretend to be someone he isn't."
Ha! That just shows what a good salesman he is.
“The progressives have been Mandela’s base from the day that he was elected — it really has never been the Black community,” said Lena Taylor, a Black Democratic state senator from Milwaukee
This tells you everything you need to know. His support are dopey white women who wouldn't know reality if they tripped over it and beta males like Howard.
- Krumhorn
One of my all-time favorite New Yorker cartoons:
[Couple just having entered greasy spoon surveys with disappointment the customers hunched over their plates and the cook behind the counter in his grimy toque]
Wife: This place isn't about being a diner--it's a diner!
I got bonafides! I cleaned public restrooms, drove a garbage truck, cleaned outhouses, mowed grass with a tractor - I am senatorial material without yet being senile!
Vote Mikey! You Could Do Worse!
One of the greatest of "Fake Folksiness" by a pandering pol is John Kerry being videoed showing up at a bait shop and asking,
"Kin I get me a huntin' license here?"
Back in my inhouse litigation management days in the late 70s I had a meeting at the state capitol in Oregon on Wednesday--and a 10 am appointment with the manager of one of our very small subsidiaries in Carrollton Mo--population 1,500 or so at ten the next morning. So from my Los Angeles base up to Portland, drive down to Salem, back to Portland, down to LA and catch a very red eye flight to Kansas City--getting there at about 0230. Rent a car and drive 80 miles from KC airport to Carollton arriving about 0500. Small town hotel/motel wasn't taking early arrivals at 0500. So I headed down to the cafe/diner. I hadn't had time (or a place) to change so was still in a three piece suit.
Small town America in farming country meets in the local cafe for a cup of coffee and some conversation early in the morning. I walk in--in my rumpled suit--and I'm the only guy in the place without a John Deere hat. Let's see your average politician or New York reporter handle that!
Actually Carrollton was and is a very nice place with great people,
@boatbuilder, try doing your riff based on “Afternoon Delight” by the Starlsnd Vocal Band.
Can you imagine the ridicule one of these Dem pols would get walking into a real working diner?
That's why they don't. That's why they go into places that have grilled red onion with lemon-tahini dressing on a baguette on the menu.
If Barnes has to campaign in Madison -- on the East Side, no less, just about the most liberal place in Wisconsin -- he must be very very scared.
Shoplifting is so funny. Do the owners charge for this dish, or just pay the illegal dishwashers less cash under the table whenever someone hipster or college dummy walks out without paying for it?
"Politicians who visit diners know the deal: In exchange for photos establishing their working-class bona fides, they must cheerfully accept heaping portions of unsolicited advice."
"Unsolicited advice" vs voters' input on what they perceive as their very real concerns and problems
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a9BO_BN0Ro
I can't get over that first sentence. You could bottle and sell the condescension.
Grilled red onion with lemon-tahini dressing sounds pretty good to me. I don't have any red onions on hand, but I do have a couple of Vidalias, and I keep Tahini around for making black-eyed pea hummus. I might try that for lunch. I need to fire up the Weber Kettle.
"In carol Stream IL, try the red Robin diner on schmale road."
Not that one. How about "The Seven Dwarfs" in Wheaton. Good breakfasts.
Some politicians actually go out and talk to people in their workplaces and communities. Not necessarily for a photo op (there’s no media there except the local paper) although it is good for politics. At least you can ask your federal level representative uncensored questions.
Most of us country bumpkins go to diners to eat breakfast or lunch. It’s something that such ‘city diners’ are clueless about replicating, instead offering pretentious menus to make the feels good.
Thanks for the comments noting the condescension in that first line. I’ve become so inured to that attitude I stepped right past it. How dare the people in a democracy actually give unsolicited advice to their elected officials???
I had to laugh, reading this NYT article
I laugh at pretty much every NYT article!
I had to laugh, reading this NYT article
I laugh at pretty much every NYT article!
I had to laugh, reading this NYT article
I laugh at pretty much every NYT article!
I had to laugh, reading this NYT article
I laugh at pretty much every NYT article!
I had to laugh, reading this NYT article
I laugh at pretty much every NYT article!
Lemon-tahini sauce was pretty gross, so I went with guacamole sauce instead. The smoked, caramelized onions were great in a wrap with some left-over pork tenderloin.
Mandela is a member of the Working Families Party. Their platform includes defunding police AND offering parole repeatedly to anyone over 55 who has served at least 15 years, regardless of the crime. Including cannibalism, raping and murdering children, terrorists, school-shooters, serial killers, cop-killers, rapist-torturers, child molesters, and so on. Everyone.
That means that family members will have to fight like hell for the rest of their lives, over and over, to keep the people who raped and tortured and killed and ate their loved ones behind bars. This is in itself a form of torture.
This is the official platform of the Working Families Party. They are already dropping bills in test states like New York. So don't feign ignorance. If you vote for this animal, it's on you when the people he frees rape and kill some more children and other humans. It's on you when grieving parents have to show up in parole hearings every year for the rest of their lives. It's all on you.
It's also on the preening narcissists who "couldn't possibly" vote for the Republican candidate and either don't show up or vote for some idiotic third-party buffoon. Prancing ponies are not above culpability. If you vote Working Family Party Democrat, you are now literally voting for your child or mother or wife -- or you -- to be raped and killed.
So, go ahead. Sit this one out. Or vote for the pro-cannibal ticket.
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