Political pandering during a presidential primary is nothing new. Whether it's eating local food in Iowa and South Carolina or making a Tom Brady joke in New Hampshire, politicians will do whatever they can to appeal to a certain voting bloc. Most of these attempts are blatantly phony and do more to remind everybody how weird and out of touch politicians really are than actually help the candidate. But during this election season, it seems the Democratic Party needs more help than usual in literally ironing out the wrinkles in their outreach effort. For several Democrats, thinking outside the box means pulling items such as gay pride flags or aprons right out of the box.
America was reminded of this today when Rep. Eric Swalwell posted a photo of his congressional office door hanging a gay pride alongside an upright American flag, "I fly these flags 365 days a year."
I fly these flags 365 days a year. pic.twitter.com/MsI1uQzDZ0
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) May 24, 2019
Nevermind his own .gov website shows he does not, in fact, fly both flags 365 days a year, the more obvious component of the photo is that the flag looks like it was just unfolded out of the packaging from an Amazon box. This was something many Twitter users remarked in the replies, but this is not the first time this sort of thing has happened.
Just a few weeks ago, Senator Kamala Harris' husband posted a photo on Twitter on Mother's Day saying, "My wonderful wife? @KamalaHarris? rushing home between LA events to prepare Jerk Chicken marinade for our Mothers Day feast Tmw."
?My wonderful wife ?@KamalaHarris? rushing home between LA events to prepare Jerk Chicken marinade for our Mothers Day feast Tmw. ???? pic.twitter.com/BWvwbhFrXf
— Douglas Emhoff (@douglasemhoff) May 12, 2019
Two things about this photo struck out to most people who saw it: 1) What sort of deadbeat husband lets his wife and mother of his children cook dinner on Mother's Day? Shouldn't he prepare the meal? and 2) The creases -- again-- appear to show the apron came out of the box that day.
You would have thought Sen. Harris would have learned from the woefully inept Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand out of New York. She too attempted to pander to voters -- most likely the coveted "suburban women" vote -- earlier this spring by appearing in the kitchen cooking for her family as she supposedly normally does. The only problem is that when the Associated Press released the photos after their visit, she too forgot to de-wrinkle her apron before it went in the public eye.
Look at the creases in those brand new aprons. I can just hear Gillibrand and Harris barking orders at their personal assistants:
— Angela.Kay (@DeepSouthProud) May 12, 2019
'Go buy me an apron. I need to stage a campaign photograph to make it look like I actually cook.' pic.twitter.com/TsJCtXenV4
This sort of campaign nonsense is expected and happens every four years. Who could forget John Kerry's gaffe saying he was a huge fan of the Red Sox and that he loved "Manny Ortez" in 2004. That person did not exist and he was confusing Manny Ramirez, the Red Sox outfielder, and David Ortiz, the club's designated hitter. Perhaps the worst and most blatant attempt to score voters from the 2016 primary came via Carly Fiorina. The Republican primary candidate betrayed her alma mater, the Stanford Cardinal, before the College Rose Bowl football game. Her Cardinals playing the Iowa Hawkeyes that year. Obviously, the Iowa caucus is extremely important and could launch or squash a presidential campaign. So, Fiorina tweeted, "Love my alma mater, but rooting for a Hawkeyes win today. #RoseBowl." Nothing says courage and conviction in your principles quite like ditching your college fan-hood, Carly.
Nonetheless, Democrats will continue to try and convince voters they are "one of them." Perhaps in the future, these candidates could borrow an iron, or at least a steamer, from one of their interns before they try to do so.