Opinion: Eesh. Yet ANOTHER thing to divide us politically

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You could probably have figured this out without a poll, but, well, that’s what polls do sometimes, confirm what we know. And a fresh CNN/Opinion Research poll cuts right to the key issue now that the clock is nearing happy hour here on the West Coast: How do the beer and wine votes break down?

The answer: Beer drinkers are leaning Red, while wine drinkers are tipping toward Blue. Yep, beer drinkers give a slight nod to the presumptive Republican candidate, John McCain, in the fall match-up, while the wine sippers are leaning toward either Democrat, Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.

We didn’t delve into the subgroups deeply enough to figure out where the scotch drinkers go, but apparently the hard liquor folks don’t vote. [Oh, put a cork in it, we’re kidding].

But even here there’s a further Democratic divide. As CNN reports, registered voters opting for beer over wine also pick McCain by 53% to 46% over Clinton. McCain and Obama, though, are essentially tied. But ‘in the head-to-head match-ups with McCain, Sens. Obama and Clinton each win a majority among registered voters who prefer wine to beer.’

By the way, the margin of error was +/- 6.5%, which makes this a 13-proof poll. And it brings out a whole new approach to the ‘get out the vote’ efforts, or GOTV: BYOB.

-- Scott Martelle