DID HE HAVE IT ON A CROISSANT?

This Isn’t The Main Line, Senator (Dotty Lynch, Douglas Kiker, Steve Chaggaris, Clothilde Ewing and Smita Kalokhe, August 13, 2003, CBS News)

Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts has violated Philadelphia’s highly cherished – although some might argue highly affected – cheese-steak ordering system at world-famous Pat’s Steaks.

An eagle-eyed Washington Post correspondent noticed on Monday that Kerry – he of the Swiss boarding schools, many mansions and Hermes ties – had the gumption to order his sandwich with Swiss cheese instead of the standard Cheez Whiz. [While picky eaters can get theirs with American or provolone cheese, asking for Swiss is like asking for a side order of human flesh.]

The Post’s Dana Milbank - who, we now assume wears those bow ties so he can devour cheese steaks at lunch every day without fear of dripping on his tie - found the Philadelphia Inquirer’s food critic, Craig LeBan, and asked about the political ramifications of Kerry’s gastronomical faux pas.

"It will doom his candidacy in Philadelphia," LeBan said.

The Post also critiqued Kerry’s eating style as "dainty."

You'd think that living off the Heinz fortune he'd have some idea how American men eat sandwiches. Posted by Orrin Judd at August 13, 2003 2:55 PM