Obama Chocolate: Campaigning with Good Taste

Barack Obama and his wife Michelle are known for being genuine, and they seem to genuinely like artisanal chocolate. The salted caramels from Fran's Chocolates in Seattle have become an edible symbol of the campaign, and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer's culture blog reports that owner Fran Bigelow is an avid Barack supporter. Carly Baumann of Cosmic Chocolates in San Francisco also has a sweet spot for the candidate, and Obama is one of her "Cosmic Icons" (along with Oprah, Al Roker, Madonna, Bono, and Snoop Dogg). And while the New England chocolatier Larry Burdick may appear to be impartial with a special election collection for each candidate (Arizona Citrus, Hot Pepper Tequila, Peanut Butter, and Kentucky Rye for McCain vs. Hawaiian Pineapple, Kenyan Coffee, Kansas Corn Crunch, and Tennessee Sour Mash for Obama), he has in fact hosted Obama campaign events in Walpole, NH, where his factory and one of his L.A. Burdick shops are located (the other is in Cambridge, Mass). In a 2007 article in The Walpolean, Burdick praised Obama's approach to health care and employment benefits and then stated that "He’s got my vote based on the amount of chocolate he eats!"