The "who would you rather have a beer with" contest is no contest at all when it comes to the choice between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. People just
don't like Mitt Romney very much. Leading on who people think would be a
more loyal friend, who they'd like to have as a dinner guest, and who they'd like to take care of them if they were sick, Obama is playing up his guy-you'd-like-to-hang-with-at-a-bar advantage as he campaigns across the country,
dropping into bars and talking sports at every available opportunity:
Just since July, Obama has stopped at four different bars to quaff a cold one, bought a round of Bud Lights at the Iowa State Fair and released his White House microbrew recipe, according to CBS News reporter Mark Knoller, who keeps meticulous records of the president’s activities.
And in the past few weeks, he’s begun finding his way to sports bars where two of the country’s favorite leisure pursuits are combined.
“I’ve been missing football a little too much,” he admitted at The Point After in Sioux City on the opening weekend of college football this month.
Obama has also been working sports references into his speeches. And just think, not once has he told people he was rooting for a team because he was friends with the owner!
Romney's campaign tried to come up with a burning quote minimizing the likability gap:
“Hope he’s buying all the rounds,” said Romney strategist Stuart Stevens. “He’s one of the few people doing great in the Obama economy.”
Maybe not the quote I'd go with if my candidate was rich enough that he could buy someone a
bar as easily as most voters could buy a round of beers. But probably the best thing the campaign can come up with given that, well, he's Mitt Romney. Barack Obama can walk into a bar and leave people charmed. Romney just acts like he's allergic. Forget a beer—there's only one of these guys most people would like to have a conversation with.