Poli want a cookie?: The Tampa Mayoral race “cookie campaign”

It’s cookie season! No, I’m not referring to the overpriced ones sold by uniformed little girls — this cookie campaign is a little more political.

I first spotted them at the Tampa mayoral debate we hosted here at CL Space a few weeks ago: large cookies with candidates’ names on them, each frosted with the campaign’s signature color. They’re the creation of Alessi’s Bakery in West Tampa, which is keeping a daily tally of the number of candidates’ cookies sold.

According to owner Phil Alessi, Jr., this is the first time the bakery has held a "cookie campaign" to coincide with a political race. “We wanted to create some excitement from the normal race goings-on.”

This article appears in Feb 17-23, 2011.