Obama Burger or Romney Omelet? French vote with their stomachs

They say that the way to someone’s heart is through their stomach. If so diners at this American restaurant in Paris gave all their love to United States President Barack Obama butchering his competition, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

Breakfast in America, a U.S. eatery in the romantic and historic Paris quartier of Le Marais, and locally known as BIA, customers were asked to vote by choosing between an ‘Obama burger’ or a ‘Romney Omelet’ for lunch among other U.S. election specials. As polls opened in the U.S. on Tuesday in Paris they were voting with their stomach to re-elect the U.S President.

Satiated customers said this was a far better way of casting your vote than queuing at polling stations.

“I think it is a great idea, it allows the customer to endorse the candidate of their choice, it’s a good idea,” said student Adrien Deloffre.

The ‘Obama Burger’ featured a slice of beef, grilled onion, relish and was topped by two hot-dog sausages.

The ‘Romney Omelet’ was a simple concoction made out of just two eggs and a bit of milk.

Perhaps not surprisingly then diners said they found ‘Obama’ a juicier candidate.

“I would go more for the ‘Obama Burger’ as it looks much more appetizing,” Deloffre said.

By end of midday business the final tally showed the sizzling Obama had ravaged its pale Romney opposition despite the latter making more sense on the economy: the ‘Obama Burger’ - 12 euros - was ordered seven times for lunch. The ‘Romney Omelet’ - 7 euros - had no takers at all.

“Well the way I look at it is that the polls have just opened here at BIA (Breakfast In America) and they are going to be closing tonight at 1100pm so right now the tally between the two restaurants is Obama leads with 7, Romney zero, at the independents at 5. So right now Obama has a pretty healthy lead,” restaurant owner Craig Carlson said.

Carlson said the dishes were chosen to reflect each candidate’s personality. Asked if it he thought that he might have tipped the scales in Obama’s favor he said: “We went out a little bit for his Chicago background with the deli and the hot-dogs and relish and pickles and all kind of interesting things and we were racking our brains on anything we could do for Romney, his position is changing all the time, like we don’'t have a handle on this guy and so I thought , you know, what about a plain omelet, you know, there's nothing inside and so we laughed and said yes, let's do that and put it on there for that,” he joked.

The menu also included “Independent” pancakes for those who did not wish to pick either Obama or Romney.

It seems Carlson and diners predicted accurately, as President Barack Obama won re-election to a second term in the White House on Tuesday, television networks projected, beating Republican challenger Mitt Romney after a long and bitter campaign.