When is the next "Kerry" photo-op?

With all of the attention that Pennsylvania is getting from both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, I'm wondering who will be the first to have a photo-op backfire like John Kerry did in the summer of 2004, when he tried to prove to Philadelphians and Pennsylvanians alike that he was not a rich Boston Brahmin who didn't know what cheesesteaks were all about.

Oops.

He went to Pat's King of Steaks in South Philly (my favorite, by far - I wouldn't buy a stick of gum off of Geno's across the street - see my Boycott List).

Kerry's first mistake - trying to order a cheesesteak with swiss. I can only imagine the reaction from the guy at the counter - Pat's employees are notoriously cranky if you don't know "how to order" a steak the Philly way.

Kerry's second mistake - his handlers asked photographers who were along for the ride to "not take pictures" while Kerry was eating, which was tantamount to saying, "Hey! Photographers! Have you cameras ready when the Senator tries to eat a cheesesteak!"

Kerry's third mistake (pictured) - Not knowing how to pick the thing up to eat it. This pic got plenty of play in the local press for some days, and most of it was in good fun. (Must have been the "liberal media" giving him heat, no doubt.)

In my humble estimation and lay opinion, the bottom line with photo ops is this - people know that nearly all politicians try to be many things to many people, especially during high-profile campaign stops. But, the effective politicians do their homework ahead of time, which Kerry and his staff clearly did not do. The only way this could have gone worse would have been Kerry's wearing a Dallas Cowboys cap to Pat's.

Now that would have been funny.

Photo from Attytood