Peeling an orange

Former five-term State Rep. Susan Catania was running for Cook County Recorder of Deeds in 1992 and she addressed a group of voters in the home of a supporter.

While making her campaign pitch, she reached across the table in front of where she was seated, picked up a juicy orange, and slowly peeled it.

Attendees stopped listening to what she was saying and watched intently as she dug her thumbnail into the peel, carefully stripped it from the fruit, ate the orange, skillfully emptied the seeds from her mouth into her hand, dropped them onto a plate, and nonchalantly wiped her hands on a paper napkin.

The voters had become less interested in election issues and were now focused on how she would eat a messy piece of fruit, eject the seeds, and remove the sticky residue from her hands.

Lesson for candidates: Don’t eat the table props.