Obama In Philly, And The Sweet Potato Pie Riff

Most everyone’s favorite (well. We’re assuming) was in town recently, and the New York Review of Books has a write-up of Barack Obama’s stop in Germantown. It initially comes off as fairly run of the mill Obamadulation (“He seems made to be precisely here—in the midst of these thousands of sun drenched cheering people, on this perfect fall day. There is only him and them and what is between them. And then he approaches the podium.”) but turns somewhat cynical

Was it that rousing event I had attended, full of words and calls to arms and inspiration, which so many children and young people will never forget? Or is it this battle of sound bites, carefully crafted each day and tossed with casual precision by each candidate into the maw of the hungry press corps?

… and cynical is certainly not the buzzword when it comes to loving Obama.

Of note though? Apparently Obama recently had an exchange with a staunchly Republican restaurant owner in Ohio, wherein he asked the man “how’s business?” meaning “if you are a die-hard Republican and you are thinking of your self-interest, how CAN you vote Republican this year?”. This got big laughs and whoops from the Germantown crowd, and then! Oh, then!

When Obama launched into his “Because I LOVE pie” a woman in the crowd shouted back, “I’LL make you pie, baby!” and to the general hooting laughter the candidate returned, “Oh yeah, you’re gonna MAKE me pie?”

Then, after a beat, amid even more raucous laughter, and several other female voices shouting out invitations, “You gonna make me SWEET POTATO PIE?” More shouts and laughter. “ALL of you gonna make me pie?” “Well you know I love sweet potato pie. And I think what we’re going to have to do here”—and the laughter and the shouting rose and his voice rose above it—”what we’re going to have to DO is have a sweet potato pie CONTEST… That’s right. And in this contest, I’M gonna be the JUDGE.”

So, of course, the question is, did Obama have sweet potato pie while he was here?

[Photo: Obama via Obama Pics Daily]
[Photo: Sweet Potato Pie via monkeycat!/Flickr]

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Obama In Philly, And The Sweet Potato Pie Riff