Obama: A President Who Drinks

Published in Liberation
(France) on 16 August 2012
by Lorraine Millot (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Meredith O'Connell. Edited by Tom Proctor.
While the Republicans are shouting themselves hoarse about Medicare and the debt, Barack Obama succeeded in slipping an argument of a different sort into the campaign. It’s one that is in his favor: He likes beer, to say the least! American journalists who follow him from meeting to meeting have remarked that the president never stops recalling how much he appreciates a good drink. On a tour in Iowa on Wednesday, Barack Obama was acclaimed by his supporters, who chanted "four more beers" in lieu of the habitual "four more years." The White House also made it known that Obama bought, with his own money, himself a brewing kit to prepare his own [brand of] beer at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Cynics of course might see in this a reminder that his Republican adversary, Mitt Romney, is condemned to total abstinence by being a Mormon. The Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-Day Saints not only forbids tobacco, but also alcohol, coffee and tea to its followers. By downing beer after beer, Barack Obama attracts attention (apparently without intending to do so) to his adversary's strange religion. While conservatives have bent over backward for more than four years to depict him as a "alien,” "Muslim" and total stranger to American culture, Obama shows with each draft [of beer] that the true, good American is actually he himself.…

As the Washington Post recalled this past Thursday, the question "who would you want to have a beer with?" is one of the classics that political science uses to judge voters' feelings regarding candidates. By this yardstick, Obama's victory over Romney leaves no doubt.


Tandis que les républicains s'égosillent sur Medicare et le fardeau de la dette, Barack Obama a réussi à glisser dans la campagne un argument un peu différent, en sa faveur: lui au moins, il aime la bière! Les journalistes américains qui le suivent de meeting en meeting ont remarqué que le président ne cesse de rappeler combien il apprécie les petites mousses. Dans l'Iowa où il était en tournée mercredi, Barack Obama s'est même fait acclamer par ses partisans scandant "Four more beers, Four more beers!" (Quatre bières de plus!), au lieu de l'habituel "Four more years" (Quatre ans de plus!). La Maison Blanche a fait aussi savoir qu'Obama s'est acheté, avec son propre argent, un "kit de brasseur" pour préparer sa bière maison au 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Les cyniques risquent bien sûr d'y voir surtout façon de rappeler que son adversaire républicain, Mitt Romney en tant que Mormon est condamné à l'abstinence la plus totale. L'Eglise de Jésus-Christ des Saints des Derniers Jours interdit non seulement le tabac, mais aussi l'alcool, le café et le thé à ses fidèles. En vidant bière sur bière, Barack Obama attire sans en avoir l'air l'attention sur l'étrange religion de son adversaire. Tandis que les conservateurs s'évertuent depuis plus de quatre ans à le dépeindre en "alien" et "musulman", totalement étranger à la culture américaine, Obama démontre à chaque gorgée que le vrai et bon Américain, c'est bien lui...

Comme le rappelle le Washington Post ce jeudi, la question "Avec qui voudriez-vous prendre une bière?" fait partie des classiques de la science politique pour jauger des sentiments des électeurs à l'égard de leurs candidats. A cette aune, la victoire d'Obama sur Romney ne fait aucun doute.

This post appeared on the front page as a direct link to the original article with the above link .

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