Loyal Scaiaholics have surely learned the procedure for this by now: I’m going to tell you I don’t blog about politics and then write a blog about politics.

As one of the 143 Americans who is *not* running for the Democratic presidential nomination [although my exploratory committee is still researching whether my message of politics as a whole being such a racket would play in New Hampshire], I have been following the race for the Democratic nomination.

This afternoon, an associate on Twitter posted this video, suggesting that mixing salsa and ranch dressing should disqualify Pete Buttigieg from the nomination:

Disqualified https://t.co/EiTRtSeBEN

— Scott Braddock (@scottbraddock) July 30, 2019

I’m an Ohioan, doggone it, and I went to Ball State in Indiana. Maybe Muncie’s not as ostentatious as South Bend, but Muncie does feature Garfield creator Jim Davis and a BorgWarner transmission plant [which I just found out closed about ten years ago]. As a Northerner, I feel compelled, nay, obliged to weigh in on this issue.

We’ve been in an era of hyper-partisan politics where people are less likely to even consider opinions counter to their own. This is not an endorsement of Buttigieg’s politics; it’s simply a call for us to be more open minded about condiments.

I can understand the other side. I have a giant, inflatable jar of salsa at the house. It’s not as though I don’t appreciate the importance of salsa. But if not for our founding fathers mixing ketchup [or “catsup,” if you will] and horseradish, we never would have discovered cocktail sauce.

Who hasn’t dipped a french fry in some catsup and then also some mustard?! We’re more alike than we are different.

I’d like to see the candidates weigh in on this during the debates this week.