Drinking with Andrew and Carl
The key to electoral success?
After today's post about the seemingly-narrowing race for governor between Andrew Cuomo and Carl Paladino, Jeff suggested we do our own one-question poll.
The question: which candidate would your rather have a beer with? We're pretty sure we know what Jeff is getting at here (you probably do, too -- more after the jump), so let's go with it. And just to mix it up, we'll add Rick Lazio into the mix.
Push all the stuff about parties and policies and platforms to the side -- just on the basis of personality alone -- who would you rather have a drink with?
We'll post results of this completely un-scientific poll at the end of Thursday.
About all this...
OK, so what Jeff is probably getting at is the idea that people who aren't diehard party members end up voting for the candidate who seems most likable -- or, to put it another way, the candidate with whom you could see yourself having a beer.
This actually works pretty well when you apply it to the presidency. Think back for the last handful of elections -- you could make a pretty good argument that the less-stiff of the two candidates has won each time. In 2004, there was actual polling on this question -- 57 percent of people said they'd prefer to have a (non-alcoholic) beer with George W. Bush.
There's some good evidence that people make voting choices based on all sorts of cues that have nothing to do with how a particular candidate is going to handle the budget (or whatever issue). For example, a recent paper from researchers at MIT reported that people in the US and India were able to predict the outcome of elections in Mexico and Brazil with surprising accuracy by simply looking at black-and-white photos of the candidates. And these sorts of judgements show up in other contexts, too. For example, in one study researchers found that judgements people made after watching short, silent film clips of teachers were predictive of end-of-semester student evaluations.
Ha! Back in 2005, the The Onion made fun of the "have a beer" notion -- "Long-Awaited Beer With Bush Really Awkward, Voter Reports"
photo: Michael Fajardo (Flickr user mfajardo)
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Comments
I see Carl becoming inappropriate after a few pints. I'd fear he'd turn into Uncle Eddie from Vacation.
Andrew probably would order a Coors (if no one else told him what to order) and have no idea that was a horrible choice.
Can I just drink by myself?
... said miles on Sep 22, 2010 at 3:54 PM | link
None of the above. Lazio would put me to sleep. Cuomo seems rather boring as well. I don't think I could get 5 minutes into a conversation with Crazy Carl without wanting to slug the guy... so, adding beer to the equation probably wouldn't be a good idea.
Personally, I'd rather have a beer with the former Governor Spitzer over any of these three. Oh, the stories he could tell...
Then again, we probably don't want to go down that road...
... said Slacker on Sep 22, 2010 at 4:12 PM | link
Here's the deal: I voted for Paladino in this poll, but I want to stress that in real life, he would never, EVER, even if my job was at stake, vote for him.
I think Paladino is a maniac, but I prefer to have people like that around when I'm drinking. Their shenanigans are guaranteed to eclipse anything embarrassing I could possibly do after a few beers.
And even if the poll asked who we'd like to have coffee with, I'd still say Paladino. He might be a completely inappropriate person to represent and lead our state, but that doesn't make him any less of a pathologically fascinating person.
... said Siobhan on Sep 22, 2010 at 4:31 PM | link
"There's some good evidence that people make voting choices based on all sorts of cues that have nothing to do with how a particular candidate is going to handle the budget (or whatever issue)."
Absolutely! I make my voting choice based on the candidate I'd like most to exchange NSFW emails with!
... said Bob on Sep 22, 2010 at 5:13 PM | link
I'm pretty sure Carl is the only sensible choice for this particular poll.
As for the election, "none of the above"?
... said mstyne on Sep 22, 2010 at 5:27 PM | link
Let's see... the beneficiary of nepotism, a douchenozzle who lost to a carpetbagger, or Benito Mussolini.
F---, I'd rather drink Sterno.
... said soze on Sep 22, 2010 at 11:54 PM | link
I'm voting for crazy carl both here and in the election because NY is already in deep s---...albany regions stays above water on the backs of the rest of upstate new york which has been in recession for 30 years thanks to the policies of our disfunctional government.
Business as usual can't continue, how many more times are we going to elect a system politician promising he's the one to bring change before we wake up that the system is the problem...
... said ike on Sep 23, 2010 at 12:26 AM | link
Great background research on the Have A Beer poll question- AOA nailed it.
If Cuomo stops by to vote in this poll, kindly remind him Bloomberg's name is not included.
Everybody get the word out so the sample will be large. These results will be fun to read later today!
... said Jeff S on Sep 23, 2010 at 8:59 AM | link
Umm....where's Kristin Davis?
... said Bob on Sep 23, 2010 at 9:44 AM | link
Not that I am terribly surprised, but there are other candidates who would be well worth having a beer or ten with
http://wredlich.com/ny/
... said Patrick on Sep 23, 2010 at 11:12 AM | link
I'd have a beer with Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins.
... said El Gucks on Sep 23, 2010 at 11:15 AM | link
None of them, horses can't drink from their backsides.
... said Carrie on Sep 23, 2010 at 11:21 AM | link
Where's Warran Redlich? I thought he was also a candidate for governor.
... said Rick on Sep 23, 2010 at 2:13 PM | link
Palidino duh. Then again I sometimes drink at Iffy's so you might see where I'm coming from.
... said Jackers on Sep 23, 2010 at 2:49 PM | link