Audio By Carbonatix
With the GOP convention getting a soggy and late start this week and the Democrats having their shindig soon afterward, we are now full force in the middle of the 2012 presidential campaign cycle. With that comes daily polls from pretty much every single politically charged think tank, university, and news organization. These polls can be skewed nearly any way and should probably be taken with a grain of salt.
But there’s one poll that’s tastier than the rest. A coffee
shop in Dry Ridge, Kentucky, is gauging customers’ presidential
predilections by their choice of ice-cream flavor.
The folks at Beans on Broadway decided it would be fun to conduct an unscientific survey of the candidate for whom customers would vote based on their ice-cream flavor preferences.
The town of Dry Ridge, located between Cincinnati and
Lexington, has jumped on board the bandwagon, with people vying for
an ice cream — and a say in the future of the United States.
Short Order spoke with Beans owner Richard Hayhoe, who started the
promotion/poll as a way to get people talking about the upcoming
election in a fun way. “I thought it was a great way to get people
involved in the political process while enjoying America’s favorite
treat.”
Votes are cast by buying a special large ice-cream cone
in Obama (chocolate), Romney (vanilla), or Undecided (twist) for $2.12
each. Each cone comes with red, white, and blue sprinkles. The
completely unscientific voting process is open to anyone regardless of
age, political party affiliation, or nationality. Yes, that means children and noncitizens can cast a vote for
president (but don’t worry, conspiracy theorists — these votes don’t really count in the
election). Hayhoe says people are traveling from other counties to participate: “We had two people drive in from Lexington this weekend to cast their votes for Obama.”
Into ice cream but not politics? You can get a cone without a vote, but then you won’t get the patriotic sprinkles — those are just for voters.
The results are posted daily on the store’s leaderboard and on the @beansonbroadway
Twitter page. As of today, Romney is leading the race with 62 cones,
followed by undecided with 50 cones, and Obama trailing with 49 cones.
We
know you’ve been wondering how Hayhoe chose which candidate to be
represented by which flavor. “Well, we only have three flavors in the
shop, and obviously the twist would represent the undecided vote. So I
flipped a coin to see who would be vanilla and who would be chocolate,” the Kentucky barrista-turned-pollster says.
The poll/promotion
will continue through Election Day in November, with free ice cream
in the winner’s representative flavor after the votes are tallied and a
president is elected.
We asked Hayhoe how he feels about Obama
and Romney, especially given the fact that the Republican hopeful
doesn’t drink coffee. “I’ll keep my political views to myself and
let the polls speak for themselves. But if Romney ever comes into my
shop, we have a fantastic cappuccino yogurt. He may not drink coffee,
but I hear he likes coffee ice cream.”
He may like coffee ice cream, but we think Mitt Romney makes a perfect vanilla candidate.
Follow Short Order on Facebook and Twitter @Short_Order.
