Can Obama's Choice of Eateries on the Campaign Trail Predict Midterm Results?

Esquire

The President makes a stop at Chicago's Valois cafeteria.

Today's election might be a referendum on Obama, but it could just as easily be a referendum on Obama's stomach. During the past two months of midterms stumping, Esquire's Eat Like A Man blog has charted the President's choice of eateries on the road, from El Mago De Las Fritas on Miami's Calle Ocho in Little Havana to O & H Danish Bakery in Racine, Wis. Obama's pit stops seemed chosen for balance: Cleveland's Smitty's has the ring of blue-collar brawn for the regular guy, while Texas Hot Dogs in Altoona, Penn., has red-state resonance for Reagan Democrats. And while there seemed to be a preponderance of photo-opp-friendly ice cream parlors and doughnut shops on the itinerary, we should know later tonight whether voters bought the notion of Obama and his party as the kind of guys who'd seem convincing glad-handing a rainbow cone at Prince Pucklers Ice Cream in Eugene, Ore. If not, the President might well find the next two years as prickly as Ray's Hell Burger in Arlington, Va.