New York Primary: Hillary Parsing the Cheesecake

Thumbs up to photographer Hilary Swift for this Instagram projective from Junior’s. What’s clever about this Hillary cheesecake “forced-choice” is how it prompts us to think about how Clinton operates — more than what she might like. It’s a whole different exercise than Trump saying they’re both great, or that New York cheesecake used to be great, and could be again if he was in charge. Or, that they actually serve a remarkable peach flambé at the Key Largo. And it’s a different exercise, again, then Bernie just vouching for lemon or strawberry, or more predictably, the plain one on the extreme left. (Perhaps Clinton goes with plain in the primary, then swing hard to lemon in the general?)

As I said before, though, the beauty of the shot is less about favorites then about triangulation. Where’s the data on national preferences? Do they know how preferences run by borough? And how do tastes change upstate?

As we know, things can change quite a bit with the angle. For example, there’s a completely different calculus to this AP photo. Suddenly, we see Hillary and the Brooklyn City Councilwoman in sweet alignment with strawberry while the councilman appears somewhere between lemon and uncommitted. Or, maybe the two women just hew to the centrist position?

But, wait. Just before we published, we stumbled upon a video from the campaign itself. Encountering a young citizen and her mother, Clinton asks the daughter what she prefers. Upending the desert cart, the girls says she actually prefers cake. And without skipping a beat, Hillary says that’s her preference, too.

Well, now that we know where Hillary is coming from, maybe next we can analyze this:

Kasich at PJ Bernstein’s Deli (New York, NY) #campaign2016

A photo posted by Justin Sullivan (@sullyfoto) on Apr 16, 2016 at 1:02pm PDT

(photo 1: HilarySwift/Instagram. #Repost @hlswift. Hillary #Cheesecake 2016. Shot for @nytimes #nytassignment #EmpireSwift. photo 2: Seth Wenig/AP. caption: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, center, talks with City Councilwoman Laurie Cumbo (D-Brooklyn) and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn) as she looks over the cheesecake offerings at Junior’s restaurant in Downtown Brooklyn on Saturday, April 9, 2016.)