Which candidate should get the corkscrew vote? (fun article)

[maddezmom]

The Grape Contenders
Which candidate should get the corkscrew vote?
By Mike Steinberger
Posted Friday, Feb. 6, 2004, at 11:13 AM PT



The battle for the White House is well under way, but one critical issue has yet to be addressed: Who best speaks to the concerns of oenophiles? I'm serious—to a point. The plunging dollar, percolating trade disputes, possible new restrictions on the importation of wine, and the ongoing fight over interstate wine shipping all mean that oenophiles have something at stake in this election. And given the profligate spending habits of many wine buffs, the case might even be made that voting in the best interest of one's wine cellar is a proxy for voting one's wallet. Herewith, a wine drinker's guide to the 2004 presidential campaign:

The Incumbent. George W. Bush's Damascene conversion from ne'er-do-well lush to faith-based, clean-living pol began with a wicked hangover and an apparently spontaneous decision to give up the sauce. You might therefore assume his presidency has been a disaster for wine drinkers—and for the most part you would be right. (Affluent collectors, of course, have benefited mightily from the Bush tax cuts.) The administration's weak dollar policy makes imported wines prohibitively expensive (and the timing of the dollar's slide couldn't be worse, with the highly touted 2002 Burgundies now hitting the market and the equally anticipated 2003 Bordeaux futures just around the corner). Then there is Bush's fair-weather approach to free trade; his demonstrated willingness to court trade wars in order to court votes should send a shiver to up the palate of any Barolo lover. As should the presence in the Cabinet of John Ashcroft: The attorney general has not yet taken direct aim at those of us who sin with liquids, but as long Ashcroft is at the helm of the Justice Department, no man's pleasure is safe.
~snip~
But for wine lovers nowadays, presidential elections are all about damage control: As wine and the White House go, it has been downhill ever since the presidency of Thomas Jefferson, the first and greatest American oenophile. During the years he lived in France, Jefferson cultivated a formidable wine collection, which he brought to the White House. (The cellar is long since gone.) The last wine aficionado to occupy the Oval Office was Richard Nixon, but he was hardly a credit to the cause. During State Dinners, he would apparently suck down Château Margaux while guests were served far less illustrious domestic wines. The guests were never the wiser because the stewards were instructed to wrap the bottles in white napkins.

Still, better the devil who drinks than the one who doesn't. If, as now seems likely, it is Bush versus Kerry next November, logic suggests that the corkscrew vote should probably go to the guy who actually owns one.


More:http://slate.msn.com/id/2095041/

[dsewell]

1. Support a grape-growing congressman!

Oenophiles looking for a candidate should help us Virginian's unseat dinosaur Republican congressman Virgil Goode with Al Weed this year in the VA 5th District. Al virtually created the wine industry in Virginia!