Fast Food Nation

A fascinating study asked voters to compare Bush and Kerry to popular brand-name products. Some of the results were predictable: whoever they supported, voters equated Bush with Bud Light and Kerry with some fussy foreign beer.

But here's what I found interesting: Bush and Kerry supporters both saw their candidate as Subway, and the other guy as McDonald's. What this means depends on what people think of McDonald's and Subway. If most voters are like me, they see McDonald's as old, bad for you, and a little tired. Subway, meanwhile, feels healthier and more dynamic, even if the bread tastes like cardboard.

I'm sure Bush and Kerry voters dislike McDonald's for different reasons. Bush backers may equate it with dreary tax-and-spend liberals, while Kerry supporters may see it as a symbol of deficits and us-vs.-them foreign policy. But everyone agrees that eating a Big Mac is depressing.

There's one bit of good news for Kerry: undecideds think he's Subway and Bush is McDonald's. The question is whether they like junk food.