Tim & Doug's Excellent Adventure

Tampon Tim and Doug went to a coffee shop, walked away from the counter without paying, and left Tim's daughter to inform the cashiers that a handler will be coming to pay with a credit card.

Just like every middle class person does lmfao.pic.twitter.com/a95EK7gyU0

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) October 9, 2024

A number of aggregators picked up the story yesterday of Second Dude Doug Emhoff and Tampon Tim Walz on some kind of joint campaign stop at the Otro Cafe in Phoenix, AZ. The focus was mostly on how they ordered drinks, didn't pay, and didn't leave a tip, with Walz's daughter forced to reassure the people at the counter that "someone" would soon make good the bill.

The whole context, though, had me scratching my head. The Otro Cafe is referred to in some of the stories as a "pastry shop". I looked it up on Tripadvisor, which says it supports Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, and Gluten free. Is this a bro thing? I asked Wikipedia:

Bro culture is not defined consistently or concretely, but refers to a type of "fratty masculinity", predominantly white, associated with frayed-brim baseball hats, oxford shirts, sports team T-shirts, and boat shoes or sandals. NPR noted that bros could include people of color and women,

NPR identified four types of bros: dudely, jockish, preppy, and stoner-ish. In their description, dudely bros form close homosocial friendships in a group, jockish bros are defined by ability at team sports tempered by interest in alcohol, preppy bros wear "conservatively casual" clothes such as Abercrombie and Fitch and flaunt "social privilege", and stoner-ish bros may or may not use cannabis but speak in a relaxed fashion and exude the air of surfers.

. . . Oxford Dictionaries identify bros as those who use the word to refer to others, such as in the example of "don't tase me, bro", in which the taserer is not a bro, but the tased is.

. . . Since 2013, the term has been adopted by feminists and the media to refer to a misogynist culture within an organization or community. In a New York Magazine article in September 2013, Ann Friedman wrote: "Bro once meant something specific: a self-absorbed young white guy in board shorts with a taste for cheap beer. But it’s become a shorthand for the sort of privileged ignorance that thrives in groups dominated by wealthy, white, straight men."

So it looks to me as though Tim and Doug's trip to the vegan-friendly pastry shop was in fact an example of bro-bonding, except that both Tim and Doug are exceptionally cheesy buffoons who are so uncomfortable in their own skins that they'd be incapable of manifesting any authentic frat-lodge preppy, dudely, jockizsh, or stoner-ish confidence or ease. They're both wannabes pure and simple.

In fact they're in Arizona, a place where there are many dude ranches. But this is some sort of a campaign stop in a battleground state -- the best I can conclude is that the Harris campaign has sent the two bro-wannabes out to get the dude ranch vote. And there seems to be a growing recognition that Kamala has a problem with men:

MSNBC anchor Andrea Mitchell said on Sunday that Vice President Kamala Harris is struggling to resonate with White and Black male voters.

. . . "She's got such a big problem with men," Mitchell said, adding that support for Trump among that demographic could be underestimated.

, , , "I think is a great thing [sic]," said former White House press secretary Jen Psaki. "At this point, when everything matters, you have to take risks and people may make mistakes. It's worth it. Put them out there and have them doing a bunch of stuff."

So OK, Walz has been a disaster ever since his debate with Vance, while Dougie is turning out not to be the sort of modern male role model everyone thought he was. Gutfeld has been doing pregnant nanny jokes every night for weeks, and he's even begun to sneak in quick, sly references to slapping women in his latest monologues -- looks like they finally got those past Fox's lawyers.

But as Jen Psaki says, you have to take risks at this point. Put them out there and have them doing a bunch of stuff.

As the presidential race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump inches closer to decision day, Aspen continues to be a popular stopping point on the campaign fundraising trail.

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff is slated to arrive in Aspen on Friday, Harris’ campaign announced Tuesday.

The 59-year-old husband of Harris is also set to make appearances this week in Idaho and California. The Harris campaign confirmed Emhoff will make a reception stop in San Francisco on Friday before coming to Aspen later that day.

Well, I guess Dougie's still good for the vegan-friendly circuit, San Francisco and Aspen, maybe OK for the folks at the pastry shop, not so much for the male demographic, though. Not sure what the bossgirl will have Tim doing next.