You'd be surprised (well maybe not) what can be found in a supermarket these days

CNN's Crowley suggested Kerry's choice of green is a sign of why he lost.

Media Matters for America suggests:

But green tea may not be quite the highbrow delicacy Crowley seems to think. In fact, Lipton itself makes more than a half-dozen different varieties of green tea. Lipton's website even reveals that green tea accounts for 20 percent of all tea produced. And, according to Lipton's product locator, you can buy green tea in Dubuque, Iowa, at that gourmet market known as ... Kmart.

So, who is the real out-of-touch elitist -- John Kerry, for drinking green tea, or Candy Crowley, for assuming that simple Iowa folk couldn't possibly be familiar with the beverage?

I suggest that Candy Crowley is (also) simply an unskilled reporter for not  thinking to even wonder how many people actually do drink tea.

Via Eschaton

Comments

[TM Lutas]

One thing that is remarkable about the US is that its tea consumption is far below other former british colonies. The tea tax (which birthed the famous Boston Tea Party) broke us of the tea habit and we've been a coffee drinking country ever since. I bring up this ancient history to suggest that it might not just have been the green that was a problem but tea itself. Name a presidential tea drinker. It's a bit of trivia but I'd suspect that historically, presidents have strongly leaned towards coffee.

Kerry's eating habits knocked him back a bit in Philadelphia where he committed local sacrileges to their cheese steak sandwich during the primary. Of course this sort of thing is ultimately silly but significant chunks of people apparently use these secondary, externally visible markers to guide their decision of who to vote for. Whatever works for them, I say. Candy Crowley's lack of skill is beyond my ability to judge.

[dave s]

The fact that you can BUY green tea all over the country doesn't change the fact that it's a real minority taste. Supermarkets carry a LOT of stuff which not one buyer in 500 ever looks at. Crowley was likely not wrong that the waitress was unfamiliar with it.
Kerry is basically a guy who would use a stunt double to eat his cheeseburger. And who tried to salt up is speeches with local sports references, which he got wrong. It created a strong perception of inauthenticity, and I think the perception was correct.

[David Sucher]

dave s.

do you have documentation for that "one buyer in 500"?