http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGhdSX_I2ow

Joe's Pie  from John Edwards for President, June 2007

a rough transcript of the video (2min34sec)
Jonathan Prince: Here I am at JohnEdwards.com/recipe so I can get that pecan pie recipe.  [Music starts].  Then we'll have a little fun seeing if Trippi can bake.

Joe Trippi: This is Jonathan Prince, Joe Trippi, and it may be my pie...  [cross talk]

Prince: [pointing to Trippi] He's Jonathan Prince...

Trippi: Anyway here we go.  So this is going to be real easy, and we're hoping many of you do a better job of this than we do.

Prince: Should we share the ingredients?  Butter, milk, flour, eggs...

Trippi: There's some pecans around here somewhere, but we'll get to those later on.

Prince: Whisks...

Trippi: ...[to person off camera] How much milk?

Prince: I'm going to separate these eggs, Joe.

Off camera voice: Four tablespoons milk.

Trippi: What?

Trippi: [throws some flour in Prince's face]

Prince: I've got the egg.  [throws egg yolk at Trippi]

Prince: I'll butter the pie crust.

Trippi: Butter the pie crust.  Is that what we're supposed to do?

Prince: Probably not.

Trippi: Okay so after we put all the ingredients in here, we're now going to put the pie in the oven, and how long are we supposed to wait guys?

Off camera voice: 20 minutes.

Trippi: Alright we're putting the pie in the oven for 20 minutes.

Prince: Now we need to kill some time.

Trippi: 20 minutes?  Okay.

["Odd Couple" music]

[Trippi and Prince head to another room where they first play cards and then read magazines - Prince reads Astronomy; not clear what Trippi is reading]

[Trippi and Prince on couch reading magazines].  Trippi: Do you smell something burning?

Prince: This is exactly what's wrong with this...

Trippi:...the story of my life.

Trippi: It's really good?

Prince: It's crisp pecan pie.

Trippi: Don't do this.

Prince: This is not what you want to do.

Trippi: It's not what you want to do.

[SFX: Sting].

Elizabeth Edwards: I'm Elizabeth Edwards and I do not approve Joe's pie.

Just because Joe couldn't make it work, doesn't mean you can't make it work.  Between now and John's birthday on June 10th, if you'll contribute, you'll make John's birthday a very happy birthday and you'll help the campaign to change America.  Anytime between now and June 10th, John's birthday.  But hey what's wrong with now.

Trippi: Oh man, I don't know how to do this.

[Music].
 

Commentary: This clip raises a number of questions.  For example, did the campaign factor the pie episode into its pledge to be carbon neutral?  Does the video play into stereotypes of men as inept around the house/kitchen; could they have devised a script where they produced an edible pie and didn't waste the ingredients?  Finally, why are Prince and Trippi playing cards and reading magazines rather than reading or working on campaign documents?
 

Copyright © 2007  Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action