Who knew success in the presidential debate could come down to the ability to look comfortable sitting on a barstool? People tend to stereotype barflies as underachievers, but in this case, Mitt Romney was handicapped by his teetotaling ways.
As a Mormon, Romney hasn’t spent any time hanging out in bars, so he had lots of catching up to do. According to CNN’s Dana Bash, during the candidates’ extensive debate preparation, he spent much of his time practicing the art of sitting on a barstool.
David Gergen, senior political analyst for CNN, tweeted about the barstool prep (“Great footnote: CNN reports Romney practicing sitting on a bar stool — never been there. How many of us have THAT problem? .#cnndebate”) Indeed.
Even though Romney’s camp denied it, Stephen Colbert had a field day with the prep. He cited Mitt’s “lack of stool experience” as one of his greatest challenges in the debate. “Where would he have seen a barstool?” Colbert asked. “His kitchen counter? Everyone knows the Romney family eats standing at podiums.”
Colbert quipped: “Only people who drink know how to sit on stools. That’s why whenever you see someone successfully sitting on one, that is an early sign of alcoholism.”
So could Romney’s non-drinking handicap him in this election? Here’s a quote from a recent New York Times piece, “Feeling the Pressure to Drink for Work”: “For professionals who abstain from alcohol — for health, religion, recovery or simple preference — it can sometimes seem harder to get ahead if you’re not willing to throw one back.”
We at Drinking Diaries have been saying it all along–eventually, everything in our culture circles around to drinking, even a (seemingly) sober debate.
