The barbs flying at the presumptive presidential nominees have extended to matters of event style. After a Tuesday night fund-raiser for Barack Obama at the Los Angeles Music Center, Republicans faulted him for a menu they deemed too fancy.
Tina Daunt and Michael Finnegan of The Los Angeles Times first reported on the menu (which included endive spears of Brie, tuna tartare with passion-fruit ponzu, and macadamia nut on wonton crisp) yesterday. Then word spread today that a copy of the menu started circulating among Republicans looking to support Karl Rove’s claims in The Wall Street Journal earlier this week that the Democratic candidate is out of touch with the American people.The party in question, catered by the Patina Group in Los Angeles, cost attendees $2,300 for access to the general reception, with V.I.P. access to the dinner setting guests like Don Cheadle and Dennis Quaid back $28,500. The night raised nearly $5 million for Obama and the Democratic National Committee.
This is not the first time the endive has reared its conical head in an election. Back in 1988, The New York Times reported that Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis commented that farmers in Iowa might consider diversifying crops to fuel profits. His suggestion of Belgian endive prompted George H. W. Bush’s running mate, Dan Quayle, to publicly mock the then Massachusetts governor for his elitism and highfalutin lettuce.
Tina Daunt and Michael Finnegan of The Los Angeles Times first reported on the menu (which included endive spears of Brie, tuna tartare with passion-fruit ponzu, and macadamia nut on wonton crisp) yesterday. Then word spread today that a copy of the menu started circulating among Republicans looking to support Karl Rove’s claims in The Wall Street Journal earlier this week that the Democratic candidate is out of touch with the American people.The party in question, catered by the Patina Group in Los Angeles, cost attendees $2,300 for access to the general reception, with V.I.P. access to the dinner setting guests like Don Cheadle and Dennis Quaid back $28,500. The night raised nearly $5 million for Obama and the Democratic National Committee.
This is not the first time the endive has reared its conical head in an election. Back in 1988, The New York Times reported that Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis commented that farmers in Iowa might consider diversifying crops to fuel profits. His suggestion of Belgian endive prompted George H. W. Bush’s running mate, Dan Quayle, to publicly mock the then Massachusetts governor for his elitism and highfalutin lettuce.
