MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
All right, let me turn you now to talking about tofu and burgers.
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
And beer.
KELLY: Always beer. We are talking Texas politics, and specifically the race between Republican Senator Ted Cruz and Democratic Congressman Beto O'Rourke. Yes, there's a food factor here.
CHANG: From the start, the two rivals have been trying to one-up each other and flaunt their Texan bona fides in the process, like in this video taken at a rally for O'Rourke. He stops to take a group photo and then this question.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Beto O'Rourke, Beto O'Rourke, I have to know. What do you order from Whataburger?
BETO O'ROURKE: No. 1, cheese, no tomato.
KELLY: No. 1, cheese, no tomato. That would be Whataburger's combo No. 1, the food of O'Rourke.
CHANG: The El Paso Democrat has a strong association with this Texas fast food chain. An earlier video taken in Brownsville showed him skateboarding around one of their parking lots.
KELLY: And people have noticed that his black-and-white campaign logo looks an awful lot like the logo for Whataburger's spicy ketchup.
CHANG: This has presented an opportunity for Senator Ted Cruz. He's put his own label on O'Rourke, calling him a Triple Meat Whataburger liberal.
KELLY: We'll help you out here with the Lone Star subtext. Cruz is saying O'Rourke is out of touch with Texas.
CHANG: But wait. Filmmaker Richard Linklater grabbed onto Cruz's clever slam and turned it against him.
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SONNY CARL DAVIS: A Triple Meat Whataburger liberal - what does that even mean, Ted? I mean, everybody I know in Texas likes Whataburger.
KELLY: Still, you got to give Ted Cruz some credit here. He's got game. His team put out a video of him in his usual blue suit walking...
CHANG: Well, some might say strutting.
KELLY: OK, strutting through Buc-ee's, which is a chain of gas stations which sells everything a Texan might need.
CHANG: Including a 12-pack of Shiner beer. That's what Cruz holds in one hand as he gets a shout-out from a supporter who yells, good luck, Cruzer.
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TED CRUZ: Thank you, Sir. Thank you very much.
KELLY: Throughout his campaign, Senator Cruz has outlined his vision for the state he represents. He has warned against Democrats, saying if they are allowed, they would turn Texas into California.
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CRUZ: Right down to tofu and silicon and dyed hair.
CHANG: Not dyed hair. Cruz has also joked that Beto O'Rourke is so liberal that if elected, he would make barbecue illegal.
KELLY: All right, again, some help with the subtext - here's Ross Ramsey, editor of The Texas Tribune.
ROSS RAMSEY: This is cattle country. And even a vegetarian in politics is a little bit suspect. But if you're coming out against barbecue or barbacoa or anything like that, you're probably on the outside.
CHANG: So far, food fight aside, voters in Texas seem to be fired up. More than 4.5 million of them have already cast their ballots.
KELLY: Sometimes you just have to push back from the table and say, enough, I'm done. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.