Cookie Baking Contest

One story that's been a little buried as we come down to the home stretch, is the results of the cookie bake-off between Laura Bush and Teresa Heinz Kerry. Family Circle was supposed to run the contest and announce the results, but there appears to be a little controversy.

As the story goes, Laura Bush's "Oatmeal-Chocolate Chunk Cookies" are up against Teresa Heinz Kerry's "Pumpkin Spice Cookies." Now you don't have to be a rocket scientist to predict the likely outcome of this contest. It's a no brainer. Any recipe that includes pumpkin isn't going to win.

But the story isn't about the cookies, it's about what exactly Teresa Heinz Kerry meant to submit. Initially, she sent in a recipe for "Yummy Wonders," but Family Circle said that the cookie recipe didn't work. So then they got another recipe for the "pumpkin spice" cookies; they were horrible, and Bush's cookies won by a huge margin. Teresa says that it wasn't her recipe. She doesn't even like pumpkin spice cookies. In an NPR interview, she said "Somebody at my office gave that recipe out and, in fact, I think somebody really made it on purpose to give a nasty recipe. I never made pumpkin cookies; I don't like pumpkin spice cookies."

We're getting used to this byline from anyone named Kerry. Anything that was done or said is subject to future revision and clarification, as no matter what the topic is there seems to be mass confusion. From the Vietnam War, to voting records, to the Iraq War and the War on Terror, to baking cookies. Nothing is ever simple for the Kerry family. No matter how much they tell us that they're consistant and steadfast, we're always left debating what they meant or intended. The story changes depending on the outcome.

This was just a cookie baking contest. Imagine if it were something of national importance.

For the record, the winner of the cookie bake off has won the election. Laura Bush's cookies won in a landslide.