Yup.
In Kentucky it’s “Cats or Cards”? The objectively correct answer is Cats unless you’re some sort of sociopath, though that’s far from a dealbreaker for public office around here.
If you’re campaigning in Lexington or Louisville you should probably have a favorite bourbon, but in the rest of the state you’re better off acting like you’d never touch such a thing.
But come Derby time you’d better have a horse picked.
With most of these Shibboleth tests, though, it would be trivially easy to expose the politician as a fraud who just crammed for the test.
Using the sports examples: “Alabama or Auburn?” “Bama, roll Tide!” “Okay then, can you name your favorite Alabama players?” (politician freezes)
“I LOVE the St. Louis Cardinals!!!” “Okay, how many World Series titles have they won?” * blank stare *
I remember a scene in The West Wing. A group of the regulars (I think it was Josh and CJ and Toby and maybe Sam) was talking about how some Republican had been caught by a gotcha like this when they didn’t know the price of some common grocery item like a quart of milk or a loaf of bread. But the conversation turned around when they realized that none of them knew the price either and they were as out of touch as the Republican they had been laughing at. The scene ended with Charlie showing up and he was the one who knew what the price was and could name which supermarket he shopped at.
But the scene was a case where Sorkin’s writing fell flat. Bartlett wasn’t part of this conversation. It was Josh and CJ and Toby. None of these people have servants who stock their pantries. They must all go out and buy their own bread and milk in supermarkets just like Charlie did.
I buy a gallon of milk each week and couldn’t tell you the price. I’d guess 2-3 dollars.
I suppose someone in a more financially precarious position would pay more attention to food prices. While I might not begrudge a politician for knowing the price of a gallon of milk, it would indicate to me that they haven’t had to really think about it in a long time.
I hate the milk question. I think I fall into a category with a lot of people where I don’t have money to burn but I’m not scraping by either. If the milk is $2.50 or $4.50, it really doesn’t make that much difference and my consumption won’t change at all nor will I notice.
But, if I was running for office, I’d learn the answer
I’d say that most middle-class people just throw what they need in the shopping cart and pay whatever the cash register says. Poor people, who may not be able to afford it, have to know how much things cost.
In the UK, at times it has been the price of a pint of milk (FWIW my local convenience store has single pints at £0.65, but a 4-pint flagon at £1.20). But it can be anything that catches them out on either the detail of the brief they’re supposed to be in charge of (though the politic answer for a minister in that situation is “My job is about how [whatever] is organised and financed, not memorising every last fact - don’t you ever have to look things up?”), or on not being able to give a snap answer to what’s their favourite biscuit.
It ought to be basic training that you can spot the “gotcha” question and see its implications in terms of image (in the case of Gordon Brown’s biscuit, he should have known everyone thought he was a bit over-obsessively serious, and that any frivolous answer was better than none).
I was thinking the same thing. I also don’t really know exactly how much a gallon of milk costs, but that’s because I’m confident that whatever it is, I’ll be able to pay for it when I get to the check out. There are people who have to be much more aware of exactly how much everything costs, because if they spend too much at the grocery today, it may mean that they can’t put gas in the car this week.
Ohio is disperate from north to south, from city to suburb to country (like I’m sure all states are). But if you can’t come up with the right response to someone yelling “O-H” at you, you’re some kind of carpetbagger.
Born and raised outside of Detroit. The correct response to that would have been, “Could you keep it down over there ? Some of us are trying to kill a twelve-pack of Stroh’s !”
I suspect they had no food at all in their homes. They probably spend all day at the White House, and only go home to go to sleep.
The simple question would be “Does upstate New York exist?” Because I have repeatedly had the experience of people assuming I’m from New York City if I tell them I’m from New York.
I won’t even get into the difference between Upstate New York and Northern New York.
So you’re from where, exactly? White Plains? Bedford Hills? (I’m kidding. I lived in Westchester and am aware of what people from outside the greater New York City area think.)
It’s amusing to see some of the politically correct answers.
John McDonnell (Left-wing Labour): “My Mum worked behind the biscuit counter in BHS and we lived off broken biscuits, in particular rich tea.”
Tim Farron (Cumbrian MP) : Am I allowed to have Kendal mint cake?
Nicola Sturgeon: Tunnock’s Caramel Wafers (Scottish company)
Alex Salmond: Walker’s chocolate ginger shortbread (Scottish company)
David Cameron: I like oat cakes with butter and cheese. (Nothing upper-class about him… but he eats hot dogs with a knife and fork.)
However, Ed Milliband wins. He managed to lose an election by the way he ate a bacon sandwich.
There are people in New York City who think Upstate starts at 110th Street. Which is in contrast to all the people who live in place likes Yonkers, Scarsdale, Nanuet, Peekskill, Middletown, Newburgh, Cold Spring, Monticello, and Poughkeepsie who feel they live in the Greater New York City area.
Me? I grew up in the northern Adirondacks. As far as we were concerned, downstate began around Glens Falls. Go Habs go and fuck ta APA.
When I lived in Colorado, I overheard a guy who was trying to pick up a girl tell her that he was from “Upstate New York. Westchester,” because of the negative view of people from the City.
Yup, I’d imagine people in their situation (in real life) pretty much live off delivery and takeout and very rarely eat/cook at home.
I’m from Canada and totally lost on answering your question so obviously I’d be eliminated quickly. In fact, google was no help in telling me anything about a football team called “Cornhuser”. 
That would be because I mistyped Cornhusker football. See, I get all excited and giddy. Here you go. As of this week, Martinez is the correct answer as to starting quarterback-a holdover from last year.
Wikipedia:# Nebraska Cornhuskers football
University of Nebraska-Lincoln football team
Thanks for your initiative in googling 
Go Big Red!!