‘Fillery Clinton’ or ‘Donut J. Trump’? Voters are deciding with food and drink

Well, would you look at that. Not every vote in this presidential election is being cast in the privacy of the voting booth.

Some of the voting is happening in restaurants, bars, doughnut shops, ice cream parlors, burger joints — even in baseball stadiums — where people can “vote” by choosing “Clinton” or “Trump” food and drink.

In its 2016 presidential poll, LaMar’s Donuts has put two very different, limited-edition doughnuts before its customers — the donkey-shaped “Fillery Clinton” and the elephant-shaped “Donut J. Trump.”

“Vote your stomach — often!” the doughnut shop entices customers.

Trump leads the race in at least one shop in a Republican-leaning Kansas City suburb. But this poll of sweet teeth missed the mark four years ago when the “Mitt Yumney” outsold the “Dough-Bama” 50.2 percent to 49.8 percent.

A lot of people say this divisive election is driving them to hit the bottle. So go on — pick a cocktail, pick a commander-in-chief.

Here are some of the election-themed specialty drinks being used for polling purposes in bars around Washington, D.C., according to On Tap Online.

The Pantsuit vs. The Side Sweep.

Build That Wall vs. Madam President.

Hillary’s Last Word vs. Trumpy Sour.

Nearly 40 restaurants owned and managed by Omni Hotel and Resorts are hosting a “Polling for Cocktails” promotion, a tongue-in-cheek way to get people excited about the election — and the hotels, of course.

“If a groundhog can predict the seasons and an octopus can predict soccer matches, then cocktails can surely predict the next president.” jokes the campaign.

Omni developed two specialty cocktails — the “True Blue Mule” with vodka, ginger beer, and blueberry syrup for Hillary Clinton and the “Trump-tini,” made with vodka, lemon, and cranberry juices.

So far, hotel execs say guests — encouraged to share their votes on Twitter using #DrinkTheVote — seem to be choosing drinks based on taste preference versus political affiliation, according to Full-Service Restaurants magazine.

As of the last weekly update on Wednesday, Trump led voting 42 percent to 38 percent, with 20 percent of the vote going to that rogue “independent” crowd.

“Some enterprising restaurateurs and hotel chains are tapping the frenzy over the presidential election to launch special events replete with original Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump drinks and entrees — many with a sense of humor — to generate excitement with their customers,” the magazine notes.

“In an age of social media, some eateries have learned that it’s better to capitalize on a controversial election than ignore it.”

(Restaurants tend to be equal-opportunity skewers when it comes to politics. During the last presidential debate, Bukowski Tavern in Boston served an appetizer called the Trump — a plate of very, very tiny Buffalo chicken fingers, and the Clinton, a tower of onion rings battered with Dark Horse Crooked Tree IPA with a “private server” of sauces on the side.)

But it’s not just restaurants engaged in creative polling. Fans at a Fort Myers Miracle minor league baseball game in August revealed their presidential preference by choosing either a Clinton or Trump bobblehead in a fan giveaway.

Trump won in the Florida team’s fourth “Bobblection,” The News-Press in Fort Myers reported.

“It was not rigged,” team chief operating officer Steve Gliner, who oversaw the ballot counting, told the newspaper. “Trust me. This is very serious. We wanted to get this right.”

That outcome might give Clinton some pause. George W. Bush won the first one in 2004, and Barack Obama won the bobblehead voting in 2008 and 2012. Both went on to live at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Serendipity 3 ice cream parlor in New York City, famous for Frrrozen Hot Chocolate and its $1,000 Golden Opulence Sundae made with 23-carat gold leaf, is polling customers by offering two specialty ice cream sundaes until election day.

Each one costs an ice-cream-headache-inducing $17.50.

The Clinton sundae teams a slice of New York style Creme de la Creme cheesecake with “a polarizing scoop of vanilla ice cream ignited by a sea of hot fudge, with a liberal sprinkling of crumbled Aunt Buba's Sand Tarts, and ovation of whipped cream,” according to Modern Restaurant Management.

The Trump “Make America Great Again” sundae starts with a slice of apple pie and “a not so conservative scoop of vanilla ice cream, covered in a windfall of caramel sauce, topped with a mountain of whipped cream flying an American flag and surrounded by a ‘wall’ of chocolate.”

Serendipity, it should be noted, calls itself bipartisan.

At Slater’s 50/50 burger restaurants in southern California, patrons can show their presidential preferences by ordering the Red Burger or the Blue Burger.

What customers don’t know? They’re the same cheeseburger.

Founder Scott Slater, 34, told Full-Service Restaurants that he is making a political statement while trying to have some fun and bring in more customers.

“The point is you have two candidates running, who are both filled with baloney,” Slater said. “They’re the same.”

This story was originally published October 27, 2016 at 4:22 PM with the headline "‘Fillery Clinton’ or ‘Donut J. Trump’? Voters are deciding with food and drink."