Which Presidential Candidate Would You Rather Have a Beer With?
So you’re at the bar, and in walks the remaining presidential candidates. They each plop down at a separate table, and you’re allowed to join only one of them. Who do you pick?
That’s what the folks at the North Carolina Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association want to know. They’re planning a “beer caucus” at the Flying Saucer in Raleigh from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday. Those who attend will be asked which candidate they’d prefer to have a beer with in 2008. They’ll count the ballots and declare a winner.
“With all of the rigors of a campaign - attack ads, phone calls, direct mail - Americans know sometimes it just comes down to who you want to have a beer with,” said Dean Plunkett Executive Director of North Carolina Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association (NCBWWA). “We hope this campaign reminds voters that at the end of the day, while issues are very important, so is friendly conversation and good-natured debate. Having a beer with someone represents getting to know someone better, and that’s what the campaign season is all about - getting to know these candidates better.”
I think the event sounds like fun (especially since I’m a member of the Saucer’s U.F.O. Club and am working on drinking 200 different beers so I can have my brass plate added to the wall). But I think Mr. Plunkett’s suggestion that “sometimes it just comes down to who you want to have a beer with” is ignorant.
Maybe it is a sad but true reality that some Americans do cast ballots based on who they’d rather sip a beer with instead of a candidate’s stance on important issues (isn’t that how some say Bush got elected?). But that shouldn’t be the reason you vote for any particular candidate. It’s our duty as Americans to research the candidates and enter the voting booth with, at a minimum, a somewhat legitimate reason for why we’re voting for someone.
I don’t care who you vote for in the upcoming presidential election. I don’t care if your vote cancels my vote out. Just please, do not base your vote on who you would rather have a beer with.
That being said, which presidential candidate would you most want to chug a lug with?
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6 Responses to “Which Presidential Candidate Would You Rather Have a Beer With?”
I don’t drink beer - so it’s a moot point for me.
But I agree with you that making a presidential decision based on who I’d quaff a pint with seems a bit trite. Sort of like picking the next secretary of state based on who I’d most like to eat a hamburger with, or a defense secretary based on who I’d most like to hitchhike with.
By absent.canadian on Jan 29, 2008
Absolutely unrelated to whom I’d vote for, I’d want to have a beer with Hillary so I could experience the personal side of her that so many of her supporters claim is so different from the public persona. I wouldn’t want Bill there, though, because clearly he’d feel compelled to hog the spotlight.
Ironically, I have a feeling that having a beer with the publicly inspiring Obama might be a bit dull.
By Toastie on Jan 29, 2008
Love this post! I have to say that I would most like to have a beer with Giuliani. Mostly because of the celebrity factor. I think he has dirt on people and I would hope that after he got sauced he would dish it.
Like you, it would not affect my vote. I just think he would be the most interesting “bar-type” conversationalist.
By Andrea on Jan 29, 2008
I’d go for John Edwards. Any man who takes his wife to Wendy’s every year for their anniversary must be cool to hang out with.
By Andrea on Jan 29, 2008
For me, it would depend on who’s buying
By H.D. on Jan 30, 2008