# Don't vote for Obama, he drinks organic tea! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 31, 2008, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-vote-for-obama-he-drinks-organic-tea/458359 "2008-07-31T14:53:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-vote-for-obama-he-drinks-organic-tea/458359/1 "2008-07-31T14:53:39Z")
This is the latest campaign logic from [McCain campaign manager Rick Davis](http://www.examiner.com/a-1514115~McCain_mocks_Obama_as_Britney_style_celeb.html?cid=rss-Washington_DC): > [@](#): > > “Only celebrities like Barack Obama go to the gym three times a day, demand ‘MET-RX chocolate roasted-peanut protein bars and bottles of a hard-to-find organic brew — Black Forest Berry Honest Tea’ and worry about the price of arugula,” wrote Davis, quoting a New York Times article detailing Obama’s appetites on the campaign trail. Combined with the recent Britney comparison, these petty attacks are getting increasingly lame and smell of desperation. There was a time when I could at least respect McCain as a worthy adversary, but he has been completely taken over by the Repugnican campaign machine. He also seems as though the rhetoric his handlers are feeding him is leaving a bad taste in his mouth, he now has a very sour expression when he mouths the words. He is at a turning point, where he either repudiates the Rovian dark side of his party, or he loses his maverick image altogether. Too bad, there was hope the Republicans could rehabilitate themselves in McCain’s former image, but it appears they have chosen political oblivion. Johnny, we hardly knew ye! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-vote-for-obama-he-drinks-organic-tea/458359/2 "2008-07-31T14:56:07Z")
Especially odd because McCain himself was never a guy I could see passing the “beer test.” (Three brews and he’s having Vietnam flashbacks . . .) ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-vote-for-obama-he-drinks-organic-tea/458359/3 "2008-07-31T15:12:05Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] (Three brews and he’s having Vietnam flashbacks . . .) [/QUOTE] Um, wouldn’t that be an acid test? A while ago, the Economist had a cover with the two of them captioned “America Got it Right” (or something like that – I can’t recall exactly). I was strongly in that camp. I had my preferences, based on likely Supreme Court court directions and a host of other issues, but this was the first campaign I could think of in which neither side truly horrified me (voting since Bush I first term). I _was_ in that camp. McCain has changed my mind. I think it’s the wrapping himself in Bush campaign handlers and strategists that did it – this didn’t need to be a negative campaign. This didn’t need to stoop to the same levels that defeated McCain in '00. Some may rightly point out that this is a long time coming, from the inclusion of the same lobbying interests he bucked years ago, the shift to appease the same religious leaders he once butted heads with, to many other changes to the model he projected the last time around. But I guess the Britteny ad was the last straw for me in regarding McCain with respect. It was one thing to disagree with his policies yet support him as a candidate. It’s another to disagree and consider him as base as Bush. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-vote-for-obama-he-drinks-organic-tea/458359/4 "2008-07-31T15:30:23Z")
[QUOTE=Rhythmdvl] McCain has changed my mind. I think it’s the wrapping himself in Bush campaign handlers and strategists that did it – this didn’t need to be a negative campaign. This didn’t need to stoop to the same levels that defeated McCain in '00. [/QUOTE] Especially since he spent the majority of the primary season, while we were all waiting to see who the Dem nominee was going to be, shouting from the rooftops that it was going to be a civil and honorable campaign. Didn’t take him long to repudiate that, did it? ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-vote-for-obama-he-drinks-organic-tea/458359/5 "2008-07-31T15:43:03Z")
What bothers me about this ad isn’t how negative it is, since it’s soft kitten paws compared with what we’ve seen from the Republican attack machine in recent elections, but simply how retarded it is. “Don’t vote for Obama, people like him! He’s good looking! He speaks well! What a jerk!” By likening your opponent to a celebrity as a means of setting yourself apart, what are you really saying about yourself? That you’re uncharismatic, uninteresting, and have a hard time commanding the attention of a nation? If you think your experience and leadership makes you more qualified for the job, talk about how you’d handle nuanced issues. Don’t talk about what kind of lettuce the other guy eats. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-vote-for-obama-he-drinks-organic-tea/458359/6 "2008-07-31T15:46:34Z")
[QUOTE=Giraffe] If you think your experience and leadership makes you more qualified for the job, talk about how you’d handle nuanced issues. Don’t talk about what kind of lettuce the other guy eats. [/QUOTE] No kidding. I would ask whether or not we can start sharpening the forks, but the thing is, there’s still plenty of time left for Obama to step on his own dick. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-vote-for-obama-he-drinks-organic-tea/458359/7 "2008-07-31T15:51:01Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] No kidding. I would ask whether or not we can start sharpening the forks, but the thing is, there’s still plenty of time left for Obama to step on his own dick. [/QUOTE] Absolutely. I don’t even fault McCain that much, really. More than anything, it’s a sign of how much we’ve forced politicians to dumb down elections. As an electorate, we crucify anyone who says anything substantive, because real solutions always have a down side. All your opponent then has to do is focus on that, e.g. “he just wants to raise yer taxes!!!1!” and you’re done. So you just spar back and forth over who has the best image and the best sound bites. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-vote-for-obama-he-drinks-organic-tea/458359/8 "2008-07-31T15:54:25Z")
[QUOTE=Giraffe] What bothers me about this ad isn’t how negative it is, since it’s soft kitten paws compared with what we’ve seen from the Republican attack machine in recent elections, but simply how retarded it is. “Don’t vote for Obama, people like him! He’s good looking! He speaks well! What a jerk!” [/QUOTE] The ad comes off like a 60 second tantrum about not being welcome to play with the cool kids. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-vote-for-obama-he-drinks-organic-tea/458359/9 "2008-07-31T15:57:27Z")
[QUOTE=DianaG] The ad comes off like a 60 second tantrum about not being welcome to play with the cool kids. [/QUOTE] Heh…it sounds more like a Hipster rant against the popular item _du jour_. “You can’t POSSIBLY like that (group/singer/poet/author/tv show/movie)! It’s so bourgeois! So dumbed-down pap! So _ **popular** _!” After all, if everybody loves it, it can’t be any good… (Although I have to admit that putting McCain in the hipster category is painfully dissonant, cognitively) ---
**Author:** ![3acresandatruck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e79b87/32.png) [@3acresandatruck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3acresandatruck)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-vote-for-obama-he-drinks-organic-tea/458359/10 "2008-07-31T16:04:51Z")
[QUOTE=Giraffe] Absolutely. I don’t even fault McCain that much, really. More than anything, it’s a sign of how much we’ve forced politicians to dumb down elections. As an electorate, we crucify anyone who says anything substantive, because real solutions always have a down side. All your opponent then has to do is focus on that, e.g. “he just wants to raise yer taxes!!!1!” and you’re done. So you just spar back and forth over who has the best image and the best sound bites. [/QUOTE] You know, the saddest part is knowing a strategy like that works. When I first saw some of these McCain ads, I thought, “He’s pathetic.” Then I thought, “He’ll win doing this shit.” ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-vote-for-obama-he-drinks-organic-tea/458359/11 "2008-07-31T16:13:35Z")
[QUOTE=Giraffe] What bothers me about this ad isn’t how negative it is, since it’s soft kitten paws compared with what we’ve seen from the Republican attack machine in recent elections, but simply how retarded it is. “Don’t vote for Obama, people like him! He’s good looking! He speaks well! What a jerk!” [/QUOTE] If only Carter or Mondale had had the sense to use that strategy on Reagan . . . ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-vote-for-obama-he-drinks-organic-tea/458359/12 "2008-07-31T16:16:14Z")
[QUOTE=Giraffe] If you think your experience and leadership makes you more qualified for the job, talk about how you’d handle nuanced issues. Don’t talk about what kind of lettuce the other guy eats. [/QUOTE] Unfortunately, the functional equivalent of the latter has been a proven winning strategy in America ever since [1840.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election%2C_1840) ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-vote-for-obama-he-drinks-organic-tea/458359/13 "2008-07-31T16:27:38Z")
Who the heck drinks _inorganic_ tea? Ewwwww! ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-vote-for-obama-he-drinks-organic-tea/458359/14 "2008-07-31T16:30:17Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] If only Carter or Mondale had had the sense to use that strategy on Reagan . . . [/QUOTE] Wouldn’t have worked. The qualities of a candidate are inversely and perversely proportional to the qualities that make a President. Reagan was warm, sunny, and personable with years of experience hitting his mark and reciting his lines with the appropriate simulation of sincerity, even when he hadn’t the slightest idea what the script was about. His shallow vapidity made him a nearly perfect candidate. Any such attack on him would be seen as publicly boiling a puppy. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-vote-for-obama-he-drinks-organic-tea/458359/15 "2008-07-31T16:30:27Z")
So on the one hand he’s a faggot who drinks organic tea and eats fancy lettuce. On the other hand, given the juxtaposition of him with Britney Spears and Paris Hilton in the ads, he’s going to use his outsized personality to go after our white women. Seems like those would be mutually reassuring. If he does manage to snag some of our white women, he won’t know what to do with them. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-vote-for-obama-he-drinks-organic-tea/458359/16 "2008-07-31T16:48:00Z")
I think this letter sent to Andrew Sullivan puts the OP’s quote in terrific relief: > [@](#): > > The McCain camp wants voters to believe that Obama’s “arrogance” befits his “celebrity” and makes him “selfish”–unlike (you guessed it) McCain, who always puts “Country First.” Or so his slogan says. The only problem? It makes just as much sense to call McCain an elitist as Obama. Nevermind that the Illinois senator is a bi-racial child from a broken family raised in a modest single-parent household. Or that there are plenty of “country clubs” still unwilling to accept African-Americans as members. Or that the last “celebrity” to occupy the Oval Office was Ronald Reagan, McCain’s hero. Simply imagine the memo David Axelrod could send to reporters about the Republican nominee. “Only a celebrity of John McCain’s magnitude could star on blockbuster television shows like ‘24’ and appear in big-budget motion pictures like ‘Wedding Crashers,’” it would read. “These are not campaign commercials or news interviews, but major Hollywood productions–which is no surprise, given that he’s pals with Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lorne Michaels. Only celebrities like John McCain own seven homes, date Brazilian models, marry blond heiresses worth $100 million, attend Virginia’s tony “old boy” Episcopal High School, forget the last time they pumped their own gas and wear $520 black calfskin loafers by Ferragamo.” Get the picture? Plus Andrew reminds us that it’s not “celebrity” Obama who had a [TV-movie](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0444626/) made about his life. [Another blogger](http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/16195) writes: > [@](#): > > John McCain recently aired an ad decrying Barack Obama’s celebrity status, comparing Obama to such packaged luminaries as Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. > > Oh really? Where was John McCain to decry celebrity status when Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected governor of California as a Republican? Where was John McCain when pop icon Sonny Bono, and actors Noble Willingham, Jerry Doyle, and Fred Grandy all ran for Congress as Republicans? Where was John McCain when Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson addressed the Republican National Convention? Where was John McCain to decry celebrity when former actor and Republican idol Ronald Reagan was elected to the Presidency not once but twice? I guess celebrity status is only bad when attached to a liberal or a Democrat but all fine and dandy when the celebrity in question is a Republican. John McCain isn’t a packaged celebrity of course, he’s a packaged war hero. There’s a difference. Right? I think the whole thing reeks of desperation, and while factors like the economy and the war still could muddy the prospects of either candidate, Obama’s playing a strong, smart, forceful game, and McCain’s only strategy is to pick and preen and distort and complain. It all seems so small and petty for a “hero” and it doesn’t help that his presentation is usually thin and reedy and unfocused. I think people generally like to listen to confident, charismatic orators, and while that won’t necessarily convince everyone, it will still serve as a stark contrast to the candidate who has nothing inspiring to bring to the table. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-vote-for-obama-he-drinks-organic-tea/458359/17 "2008-07-31T16:53:19Z")
Obama goes to the gym three times a day? Really? ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-vote-for-obama-he-drinks-organic-tea/458359/18 "2008-07-31T16:53:43Z")
McCain attempting to hang that “elitist” tag on Obama rings a little hollow coming from a man who runs around in a private jet wearing [$500 Italian shoes.](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/isabel-wilkinson/a-week-in-john-mccains-sh_b_115692.html) I hear Obama likes arugula and lattes, though, which of course places him _completely_ beyond the pale! ETA: Damn you, **Archive Guy!** DAAAAMN YOUUUU!! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-vote-for-obama-he-drinks-organic-tea/458359/19 "2008-07-31T17:05:29Z")
Pardon me for the doublepost, but I found [this](http://www.vanityfair.com/online/wolcott/2008/07/i-dont-pretend-to-be.html) simply too apropos to pass up! Heh heh… Elvis! ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-vote-for-obama-he-drinks-organic-tea/458359/20 "2008-07-31T17:46:13Z")
[QUOTE=Lord Ashtar] Obama goes to the gym three times a day? Really? [/QUOTE] There was [one day](http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/07/obama-hits-the.html) when he reportedly went three times shortly before he left on his overseas trip. I don’t believe that’s something he does _every_ day. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-vote-for-obama-he-drinks-organic-tea/458359.md?page=2)