Column
By Kerri Testement
Baking cookies on the presidential campaign
When it comes to finding a great, mouth-watering recipe, the presidential candidates (or their spouses) seem to be the latest source.
Never mind that they are running a multi-million dollar, cross-country campaign — nope, they still have time to bake cookies.
John McCain’s wife, Cindy, apparently makes a great ahi tuna with napa cabbage salad. Whatever that is.
Personally, when I need a recipe, I turn to the Food Network — not the wife of a presidential candidate. And that’s the problem. One of McCain’s interns apparently had the same thought last week when he was given the task of posting “Cindy McCain’s recipes” on John McCain’s website.
That intern also turned to the Food Network’s website and plagiarized a few recipes for the senator’s wife to use as her own. Mrs. McCain probably had no clue that she had a great recipe for rosemary chicken, either.
Michelle Obama, wife of Barak Obama, hasn’t posted recipes on her husband’s website.
Don’t expect Bill Clinton to post his favorite home-style recipes on his wife’s website —?he’s more of a Big Mac and Krispy Kreme guy.
The idea of the wives of presidential candidates posting their favorite recipes isn’t new. In the past, some media outlets have even sponsored contests to determine which wife bakes the best cookies.
But, do I really care to bake Hillary Clinton’s cookies? Something tells me she probably doesn’t have time to find the perfect amount of chocolate chips or nuts for a recipe. She’s now involved in her third major presidential campaign.
I’m a regular working mom and I barely have time to cook a single meal, much less spend hours baking better desserts. I’m just happy if I have the time and energy to make something that doesn’t come out of a box or from a drive-thru window.
Honestly, I don’t care about Hillary Clinton’s cookies. Or Michelle Obama’s cobbler. Or Cindy McCain’s cabbage salad. I care more about the key issues — the economy, the war and healthcare.
The concept of publishing a presidential candidate’s family recipes is supposed to provide personal insight into the person who could become this country’s next leader. Are they fans of Southern cooking? Would you only find “organic” foods in their refrigerator? Or do they favor some posh-sounding dish that you’ve never heard of?
In the early 1990s, Hillary Clinton made the mistake of describing her decision to become a working mom in the context of spending time in the family kitchen.
“I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, but what I decided to do was to fulfill my profession which I entered before my husband was in public life,” she said.
Judge that comment as you will, but supposedly, after making that statement, Hillary figured out a way to make some decent cookies.
Kerri Testement is the news editor of The Braselton News. Her e-mail address is kerri@mainstreetnews.com.
Governments should cut back, too
The economic slowdown has hit homeowners and businesses in recent months, but it’s also hitting local governments. County and city governments are feeling the pinch of flat sales taxes and lower fees.
Despite that, however, many governments are slow to react. Instead of cutting costs during this downturn, governments continue to grow.
When it comes to public schools, one can argue that local school boards have little choice. Indeed, state rules mandate class sizes and other variables that render school boards useless in attempting to cut costs during hard economic times.
But it’s difficult to feel sorry for school boards, or any other government agency, that hold weekend retreats on the taxpayer’s nickel while it also complains about flat revenues.
It’s difficult to feel sorry for governments that offer top benefits and high salaries when they complain about economic hard times.
It’s difficult to feel sorry for governments that continue to give large raises to staff members during a slowing economy.
It’s difficult to feel sorry for governments that raise rates, fees and taxes during a slow economy.
Like many businesses and individuals, governments should control costs tightly in an economic downturn. But too many governments lack the discipline to do that.
Instead, government leaders adopt a sense of entitlement, that the public “owes” them more money.
When this economic downturn is over, citizens should look back at their local governments and see which ones were responsible and which ones did business as usual.
The former should be rewarded by taxpayers.
The latter should be voted out of office for having failed to be responsible during difficult times.
