What we eat is who we are -- and how we vote?

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT: What’s for Dinner? The Pollster Wants to Know
By KIM SEVERSON
Published: April 16, 2008


(Robert Grossman)

If there’s butter and white wine in your refrigerator and Fig Newtons in the cookie jar, you’re likely to vote for Hillary Clinton. Prefer olive oil, Bear Naked granola and a latte to go? You probably like Barack Obama, too. And if you’re leaning toward John McCain, it’s all about kicking back with a bourbon and a stuffed crust pizza while you watch the Democrats fight it out next week in Pennsylvania.

If what we eat says a lot about who we are, it also says something about how we might vote.

Although precincts and polls are being parsed, the political advisers to the presidential candidates are also looking closely at consumer behavior, including how people eat, as a way to scavenge for votes. The practice is called microtargeting, as much political discipline as buzzword. The idea is that in the brand-driven United States, what we buy and how we spend our free time is a good predictor of our politics.

Political strategists slice and dice the electorate into small segments, starting with traditional demographics like age and income, then mixing consumer information like whether you prefer casinos or cruises, hunting or cooking, a Prius or a pickup. Once they find small groups of like-minded people, campaigns can efficiently send customized phone, e-mail or direct mail messages to potential supporters, avoiding inefficient one-size-fits-all mailings. Pockets of support that might have gone unnoticed can be ferreted out....

Although gender, religion and other basic personal data are much more valuable for pollsters, information about eating — along with travel and hobbies — are in the second tier of data used to predict how someone might vote, he said. So, for example, (Christopher Mann of MSHC Partners, a political communications firm) knows that someone who subscribes to lots of gourmet cooking magazines is more likely to be a Democrat or at least more open to progressive causes. That can help a campaign decide if it’s worth spending money courting that person’s vote....

***

...Dr Pepper is a Republican soda. Pepsi-Cola and Sprite are Democratic. So are most clear liquors, like gin and vodka, along with white wine and Evian water. Republicans skew toward brown liquors like bourbon or scotch, red wine and Fiji water. When it comes to fried chicken, (Matthew Dowd) said, Democrats prefer Popeyes and Republicans Chick-fil-A. “Anything organic or more Whole Foods-y skews more Democratic,” Dowd said.

But consumer information has to be studied in context....

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/16/dining/16voters.html?pagewanted=all

[lisa58]

1. sounds very Mark Penn

[DeepModem Mom]

4. You got it!

"Mark Penn, a microtargeting expert who was dismissed as chief strategist for the Clinton campaign last week, wrote a book on the subject: 'Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow’s Big Changes' (Twelve, 2007)."

Re. the Obama campaign: "Although Mr. Obama’s team is also using consumer data to target voters, the campaign is focusing more on what one adviser called 'macrotargeting.' The idea is to build a unified, all-encompassing Obama brand that works well across all kinds of media platforms."

And Carville doesn't buy into it: "...some, notably James Carville, a Democratic strategist and CNN political commentator, see microtargeting as a waste of time and money. Although he believes the cost of food is a fast-rising issue among voters, knowing what they eat doesn’t win elections."

Kind of interesting stuff....

[DeepModem Mom]

2. Sorry, mispost.

[Lost-in-FL]

3. What if i like Bourbon, fig newtons and arugula?

Does that mean I'm a Libertarian? :shrug:

[DeepModem Mom]

6. Or you'll get lots and lots of mailings? nt

[Warpy]

5. Looks like GOPs are killing themselves with junk food

No wonder they're all so cranky all the time!

[mrcheerful]

7. Geeee and here all this time I thought, chitlins, sow bellies and collard greens=

Democratic voter. Lobster, pheasent under glass and champagne = republicon enabler.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

8. I use both olive oil and butter

because that's what the doctor said would be best for my health. No junk--fresh salads, veggies, Amish cheese, organic meat when I can find it. Would this skew very liberal Dem? I'd hope so. Can't go the vegan route, but I do love Dennis and Elizabeth Kucinich.

[DeepModem Mom]

9. I think you are a self-identified liberal Dem -- especially, re. organic.

And olive oil? I'll bet it's way Dem!

[enlightenment]

11. hehe . . . read your post quickly and came away with a moment of

GOOD Grief! Is ayeshahaqqiqa a cannibal???

"Can't go the vegan route, but I do love Dennis and Elizabeth Kucinich."

It makes perfect sense in the re-read but I did have that moment!

*enlightenment goes to get something to eat, as hunger is obviously affecting her brain . . .*

[Richard D]

10. Oh my God!

I prefer red wine to white, and a good Single Malt Scotch to a martini. See you all later, I'm gonna join Free Repuglic.

[DeepModem Mom]

12. Wait, Richard!

"But consumer information has to be studied in context...."

[frebrd]

13. That's a long list of....

one-size-fits-all assumptions. (Other people's assumptions are the bane of my existence.) What a bunch of crap!

:rofl:

[katty]

14. use butter/olive oil-fig newtons?-not ever

[EstimatedProphet]

15. Bullshit! Everyone knows Repubs eat babies and drink the blood of the elderly!

[madmom]

16. I like butter and white wine,olive oil and granola, hate latte, but like pizza, boy am I confused!