Hillary Clinton's shot heard 'round the world

When Hillary Clinton gingerly downed a shot of Crown Royal at a campaign stop this week (see below), it illustrated the dangers of pandering to blue-collar voters. It’s a risky and disingenuous road to go down, and it hasn’t worked well in the past for many other candidates (not to mention the other issue – that rather than buying American, Hillary prefers Canadian whiskey. Will this affect the upcoming Kentucky primary, and does this signal a change in her views on NAFTA?).

It also brought to mind an amusing incident which occurred during the 1972 election. In his book Sarge: The Life and Times of Sargent Shriver, Scott Stossel describes what happened when vice-presidential candidate Sargent Shriver campaigned in a Youngstown, Ohio bar with a group of steelworkers. Looking to ingratiate himself with the men, Shriver (a Yalie, a preppie, and a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity) ordered a round of beers for the house and then added, “Make mine a Courvoisier!”

The incident certainly didn’t help the Democratic ticket that year, but it can surely be said that Shriver refused to pander.