Politics

Tolna, North Dakota ­ a town of 240 people.  Spending time there during the centennial of the town reminded me of the essential nature of the state, which permeates the life, the politics, and the cuisine. 

The entire weekend consisted of food that started in the freezer and beer ­ seriously, nothing says North Dakota like a cooler full of Busch Lite in the back of the pickup in the parking lot of the demolition derby – except maybe if the beer is coupled with a Red Baron pizza.

My first memory of a Presidential election was the Nixon/ Kennedy race. 

I was  8-years-old and the rally song to the tune of “Whistle While You Work” told me everything I thought I needed to know about politics:

 
Whistle While You Work
Nixon is a Jerk
Eisenhower has no power
Kennedy’s going to work.

Not very clever come to think of it. My folks were liberal Democrats and Kennedy was their man.

When I strolled recently in Harvard Yard with my daughter Paris, she reminded me that these ivy- covered brick buildings were not only where she had bunked as a freshman, but also where the American Revolutionary War troops had slept before there were polls or primaries, or even elections, or even American Presidents.  I feel the political history when I’m in Cambridge.  

When you ask politicians to provide their favorite recipes, you can bet you’re going to get something laced, maybe dripping, with political undertones, because, well, because that’s what politicians do.   So when I asked two of Arizona’s most powerful pols, Senator John McCain and Governor Janet Napolitano, the former the current GOP frontrunner for president, the latter a trailblazer and potential candidate for vice president for the Democrats, I had to consider their selections a little bit more than just food.