Call it the Obama effect: Where the president dines, other Democrats will follow.
Last month, you may remember, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden paid a surprise visit to Ray’s Hell Burger in Arlington to curb their burger craving.
On Virginia’s election day Tuesday, gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe followed suit, hoping that some of the Obama-Biden luck would rub off.
Arriving around noon with his family and staff, McAuliffe found a line of diners going out the door. While his wife and campaign manager stood in line and ordered burgers, McAuliffe made the rounds, talking to each diner in the restaurant and urging them to come out and vote tonight.
McAuliffe said that campaigning wasn’t the real reason that brought him to Ray’s. “I came here because they’re the best burgers in Virginia,” he said. His credibility was cast into doubt, however, as he asked manager Tim Murray what he should order.
McAuliffe took Murray’s advice, going with Soul Burger #1, a bacon cheeseburger. And as he walked out the door, he again proclaimed, “They’re the greatest burgers in Virginia!”
Murray said that after Obama and Biden’s visit last month, business has been strong. “It’s been very hectic, but it’s great that they came to greet the public in these places,” Murray said. “Before they came, it was a neighborhood thing, it’s been word of mouth. Since Obama came here, business keeps flourishing.”
-Kristen Henry reporting
