The Great Whiskey Gap And Other Voter Mysteries

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Some stereotypes are true. Republicans drive Jaguars; Democrats drive Subarus. But why stop there? In the age of the overpriced, overmanaged campaign, the data go beyond red-state blue-state superficiality into far more whimsical superficialities. For instance, Republicans are more likely than Democrats to bowl, according to a survey of 200,000 Americans by Scarborough Research, a consumer-research firm whose data were used by the Bush campaign. Republicans are, in fact, more likely to do almost everything, from jogging to gardening. Democrats are more likely to watch TV.

Are Democrats just lazy? Bob Cohen, Scarborough's CEO, discourages such conclusions. He attributes many differences to income. Generally, Democrats earn less and live in cities, where it's harder to play sports. They also include more women, who watch more TV. But if we were to go looking for facile stereotypes, we would zero in on the "water-skiing factor." Republicans are 67% more likely than average to water-ski, according to a recent Scarborough survey of nine cities. Democrats are 67% less likely. "I hate to even say this," speculates Jeff Rodgers, a champion water skier and a Republican, "but maybe it's because water-skiing is family oriented." Or it may be that new ski boats start at about $30,000.

There are exceptions. Democrats are more likely to go to art museums. They also skew toward cognac, which usually costs more than whiskey, the G.O.P. choice. Party demographics help explain that difference: black men have appreciated cognac since the 1970s, even before Jay-Z embraced it, while whiskey has a long history in red states like Kentucky. Sure enough, at the G.O.P. Convention this year, the most requested drink was Maker's Mark whiskey. The Democratic winner was too close to call. "The Kahlúa White House Russian was a big favorite with the ladies, Courvoisier XO cognac with the men," says Dave Karraker of Allied Domecq, which supplied spirits for both conventions. "There were way fewer ladies at the Republican events."