Biscotti Man for president?

Some citizens have chosen a presidential candidate by standing up to be counted in a caucus; others by casting a ballot in a primary, and now, thanks to a bakery in Plainville, cookie lovers may cast a vote for the candidate who looks best as a cartoon biscotti.

In non-election years - and in election years too - the logo of Montione's Biscotti Bakery is Biscotti Man, a cheery cartoon character of a chap drawn up in the likeness of a biscotti and created by Norton designer David Pimental.

With the election drawing near, bakery owner Mary T. Montione decided to have cartoon biscotti characters sketched out for each of the remaining likely presidential candidates: Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and Barack Obama.

Alas, this is not a case of Italian dipping cookies serving as a sort of edible Mount Rushmore, with the facial features of the candidates engraved in chocolate and dough. No, the biscotti candidates are simply cartoon characters inked onto campaign buttons.

Nevertheless, the bakery is conducting a straw poll of the candidates on its website.

"It's a fun way to promote the product," Montione said.

And for those more interested in biscotti than politics, the website also serves as an online store for buying biscotti.

So far, the biscotti straw poll has been in the stealth mode, with Montione just beginning a PR offensive to bring it some attention.

Stealth mode or no, Montione was asked which of the biscotti candidates was the early front-runner.

"So far," she said diplomatically, "Biscotti Man is ahead."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)