Milk, of course! In politics, you'd be a fool to answer in any other way. And you certainly wouldn't answer, I don't know, perhaps ... New Belgium Ranger India Pale Ale! It's part of the dumbing down, or perhaps commonalization (if I may coin a term) that we expect of our candidates in modern elections. They can't dare stand out or be unique in some way, or God forbid have actual "personality!" No, we expect wholesome, average, safe candidates. You know, the kind that we can go have a beer... er, excuse me, milk with. Out on the campaign trail, we are asked these kind of questions all the time and we are expected to come up with answers that will please, or at least not offend, as many people as possible. What's the correct answer? Let's explore this phenomenon down below the orange slinky.
What happened to uniqueness in American culture? We used to promote individualism in our society. I guess we still do to some extent, but apparently not when it comes to political candidates. We are advised to take the "safe" route. Don't stand out too much. Make sure people can relate to you, we're cautioned. If they ask you for your favorite book, say the Bible! Favorite movie - make sure it's G-rated. Of course, I suppose that the ultimate blame will preside with the candidates because they're the ones accepting and acting on this advice.
So why are we so afraid to stand out just a little? Obviously we're striving to get as many votes as possible so we try to broaden our appeal as much as we can - and maybe that's where the lowest common denominator kicks in. One person's favorite edgy TV show is offensive to another. This person's hero is a scoundrel to someone else. But has it come to this? Are we all so narrow that we can eliminate a candidate from our consideration because of one trivial personality trait? (I'm of course, discounting decisions based purely on ideological grounds for the sake of this exploration) But unfortunately, some of the numbers that we look at on the campaign trail would seem to indicate that this is a reality. When given two candidates that are similar in political beliefs, voters tend to take the "safer" one.
I wish I had an answer as to how to overcome this characteristic of the average American voter, but I don't. My plan, at least as far as my campaign is concerned, will be to give the voters the choice of who I really am. Maybe the pure honesty and integrity of real answers will eventually win the day. Maybe if enough candidates do this, we could actually move the debate forward on issues that really matter. Even if they don't, at least I'll be better able to sleep at night knowing that I told people who they're actually voting for.
And for the record, New Belgium really is one of my favorite drinks.