What’s the connection?
Republicans like American casual-dining restaurants with kitschy crap stapled to the walls?
Seriously, we’re gonna need a bit more to work with here.
Log Cabin Republican on Freak Show likes Applebee’s. Last night on Real Time With Bill Maher Bill Maher made a reference to Republicans eating at Applebee’s.
National map of Applebee’s restaurants. I don’t see any concentration in the so-called “red” states. Looks like the “blue” states of New England, the Mid-Atlantic, and Upper Midwest love their Applebee’s.
There’s no real connection. However, “Applebee’s” might be shorthand for “non-challenging white-bread chain restaurant food”. They could just as easily say “T.G.I. Fridays” or “Bennigans”, I suppose.
Perhaps the implication is that ethnic eateries, or places with avant-garde cuisine, or cherished local holes-in-the-wall, are more the domain of liberal folks. Which would be patently false in a food lovin’ town like New Orleans, where I’m from. Maybe the stereotype hold better elsewhere.
Other than that, I got nothin’.
Perhaps it’s a backhanded reference to what is perceived as a false American experience - the ‘neighborhood bar/restaurant’ that is actually a chain. It may be a reference to a cookie cutter interpretation of the American experience rather than a genuine neighborhood bar, and thus if it preferred by Republicans than it may mean Republicans prefer a false idealistic impression of American society rather than the ‘truth’ of a real local resaturant…
At least that’s my wild guess - when in doubt assume it’s an insult.
Dave Barry (a Democrat, last I checked) described such chains as Fourteen Absentee Proctologists in Need of a Tax Shelter.
Ever notice how politicians (R or D) only do campaign appearances at non-chain local eateries (diners east of the Mississippi, cafes west of it)?
FAPINOATS?
Hm. Seems there’s a book called Applebee’s America.
If Applebee’s is anything to go by, “Gut Values” seem to include lots and lots of simple carbs, melted cheese, and gloppy sauces.
… which sounds a lot like what politicians offer.
The Daily Show did a bit in Ohio with each of the correspondents “reporting” from a typical American spot and each was an Applebee’s.
Probably it’s the same thing as the thread in which we discussed why white bread and mayo were stereotypical “white” foods, even though other groups obviously eat them.
That was an amusing bit. (It’s from Monday, if anyone wants to see it.) I particularly liked how none of the correspondents could actually find a voter to talk to or an experience that wasn’t taken from an old Applebee’s commerical.
Dave Barry is a libertarian.
There is a chain with a real connection to the Republican party. It’s Domino’s Pizza. The Founder was a big contributor to Republicans, and was enthusiastic about the pro-life position. He sold the chain, apparently to another pro-life donor. The NOW still is girlcotting the chain, when I last checked.
Well, at the moment, there’s a Republican political analyst named Matthew Dowd who’s promoting a book that uses Applebee’s as a symbol for modern-day America.
He’s saying that, even if it’s phony and somewhat kitschy, the decor at Applebee’s shows that people like the IDEA of a cozy, little neighborhood restaurant (Applebee’s is actually part of a big corporation, but never mind thgat for a second). Dowd thinks people are starved for a sense of community (even if that “community” is artificial, as at Applebee’s).
And to some extent, both political parties are trying to sell SOME kind of notion of community building, because both parties sense that’s something missing in modern America, and something voters yearn for.
This is what boggles my mind. People actually buy into this stuff. Sometimes when my GF is shopping in the mall I will stop in at Red Robin because they have awesome burgers and I can have a few cold ones and watch sports on teevee. Yet there are a lot of folks there who are “regulars”. Red Robin is their frigging hangout. I just don’t know what to say. I have seen the same thing at Outback, TGI’s etc. I can understand this in Cucamonga, where that is all there is to choose from, but I see it in the city too. It isn’t like there is a lack of cool neighborhood bars in LA.
I guess some people like this kind of atmosphere, and it is true that you will probably get better food at an Outback than at the corner bar (assuming they even serve food at all), but this isn’t always the case. The Rustic in Los Feliz is a great bar and has great food and isn’t part of a chain. Some people are just afraid to try a strange place and Applebees gives them a consistent known product. I also think a lot of people have been successfully marketed on the idea that “A lot of junk on the wall” = “Good eating”.
I have never eaten at Applebees, but what I have heard from folks who I trust in gustatorial matters, is that it is crap. Would I try it if I was in a strange town and the pickings looked slim? Sure. But not in the city where I have a lot of choices. Heck, if I want “junk on the wall” I can get good food with it here
All 12 members? Wow, that will really impact their bottom line. 
The people writing the bits are urban Democrats who are ignoring the fact that there are plenty of Applebees in blue states like Connecticut.
Tom Monaghan still owns 27% of Domino’s, but he sold a majority stake to an investment firm called Bain Capital in 1998.
Maybe you’re thinking of Monaghan’s selling the Detroit Tigers… but it wasn’t another pro-lifer he sold to, it was another pizza magnate. He sold the Tigers in 1992 to Mike Ilitch, who was the founder of Domino’s biggest rival at the time – Little Cesar’s pizza. I don’t know about Illitch’s politics, but he gives money to candidates like Hillary Clinton, which suggests he’s not a pro-life zealot.