Like TS Eliot's Prufrock, who measured out his life with coffee spoons, the candidates for next year's presidential election are plotting their progress to the White House in terms of the gallons of caffeinated beverages they'll have to consume before they get there. It's a Sisyphean effort. As fast as the politicians drain their drinks, they're refilled again. You see, the highway diner is emerging as a key battleground in the campaign, and at this cheery eatery the cup is never half-empty – it's always running over.
At this difficult time, it's little wonder that political hopefuls crave the feelgood factor of the diner, where the eggs are sunny-side-up. During a tour to promote jobs last month, President Obama called in at Reid's House Restaurant in Reidsville, North Carolina, which serves roast beef and homemade pies. It was just what the spin doctor ordered: the shirt-sleeved candidate sharing a joke with the regulars at the long, stainless steel counter. Obama is a gourmand of the unassuming kerbside kitchen. At Tom's Diner in Manhattan, which inspired the eponymous pop hit written by Suzanne Vega in 1981, a photo on the wall of a youthful Obama recalls his undergraduate days spent kicking back on its leatherette banquettes.
The Republicans have also been trying to rustle up votes at the roadhouse. At Mary Ann's Diner in Derry, New Hampshire, the former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney went so far as to horse around with the waitresses for the cameras, pretending one of them had pinched his backside. For the normally buttoned-down Mormon, this was the equivalent of Meg Ryan's diner moment in When Harry Met Sally.
Politicians frequent diners because they appear to embody admirable American values. Not only a warm welcome, but also hard-scrabble self-sufficiency: diners are "mom & pop" businesses in the shadow of multinational food conglomerates, which have largely stolen their business but not their sentimental appeal.
The candidates also understand what moviemakers know: everyone goes to the diner. Screenwriter Josh Olsen, who set a key scene of his cult film A History of Violence in a coffee shop, says: "You can introduce any character you want in a diner, even Donald Trump." Sure enough, the Trump called in at a diner in New Hampshire last April during his own abortive tilt at the Oval Office.
The diner is one of the few places in the supposed "melting pot" of the US where people actually mix: it's no coincidence that crucial civil rights battles in the 60s were fought over what were then whites-only restaurants in parts of the US. Those endless counters have turned out to be a great leveller.
America on a Plate, The Story of the Diner, written & presented by Stephen Smith, is broadcast on BBC4 on 29 November.
