Here are 17 things I like about this photo: 1) KFC. 2) Knife and fork isn’t dishonest. It seems organic. This is probably the way 83% of very wealthy north-easterners eat KFC. 3) Silver spoon to eat the potatoes. I’m cool with that. 4) The potatoes have a lot of gravy. Delicious. 5) He’s not stopping with that one breast. There is an entire bucket. That’s relatable. 6) He’s smiling. He actually has a very nice smile. 7) American pin on lapel. 8) Limited, potentially no makeup. 9) Wall Street Journal with business section peeking out, 10) Not using the KFC salt and pepper. Prudent. 11) Hair is looking reasonably good. Actually, quite good. 12) Unidentified additional delicious treat under the mashed potatoes and gravy. Is it corn? Is it a parfait? I like the mystery. 13) The airplane is gorgeous and generationally fitting. It’s not the style for a young, hipster, but it’s also not the overly gaudy gold everything that one might assume. Just a touch of gold. 14) The photo opportunity is just a man and his chicken. 15) If it were staged, the colonel on the bucket would be facing camera. 16) The speech is loosely tucked away in his inner pocket. There is a vulnerability in that imperfection. 17) KFC is apolitical, not like some of those other absolutely delectable, lightly breaded, highly seasoned chicken joints. Although, if I’m being entirely honest, the colonel looks guilty about something, and no matter what Chick Fil’ A does or says those little nuggets are unsullied.
In fact, thinking about it further, this is my favorite photograph of the campaign. It’s a humanizing photo. It’s a man with a real hunger for a delicious bucket of chicken, potatoes and some mysterious additional treat. My slogan for all candidates in this campaign — More chicken. Less vitriol. (PS – Take this post for what it’s meant to be, a somewhat humorous break from the barrage of negativity, much of it earned. Idealistically, I hope we can be primarily issue focused at some point in this election cycle.)