Text size:

Your cup of coffee may be predicting the election

BY ARIELLE BRECHISCI | Special to Newsday

October 10, 2008

McCain or Obama? Decaf or regular?

With 7-Election 2008 just under way, Matt Stewart emerged from a 7-Eleven store in Stony Brook yesterday carrying a blue, 20-ounce coffee cup emblazoned with the name Obama.

"I'm just representing my candidate," said Stewart, 26, of Lake Grove. His mother, Randi Stewart, 51, added, "I was just asking him, 'If there were only McCain cups, would you still buy coffee?' I wouldn't."

For the third consecutive national election, patrons of 7-Eleven stores can simultaneously get their caffeine fix and cast an unofficial vote for president by choosing between red and blue coffee cups featuring the names of the Republican and Democratic candidates.

For those who don't wish to vote for Sen. John McCain or Sen. Barack Obama, there's still a plain old coffee cup.

The vote is tallied at the register, via the cup's bar code; 7-Election updates its Web site every morning with the results. The vote isn't quite nationwide: The company has convenience stores in 30 states and the District of Columbia, spokeswoman Margaret Chabris said.

The coffee cup sales accurately predicted the earlier elections' outcomes, according to the 7-Election Web site. In 2000, cups carrying George W. Bush's name outsold those with Al Gore's by 1 percentage point - no recount necessary. Four years later, sales figures for Bush and John Kerry cups mirrored the final results.

Philip Meyer of Huntington had his coffee in a red McCain cup yesterday but planned his own type of write-in vote.

"I'm going to cross out McCain's name and write Palin," said Meyer, 67. "I wasn't going to vote, but I like Palin. I think she's great."

Luis Taveras, 22, of the Bronx said he drinks 7-Eleven coffee regularly and started buying the blue Obama cup when they debuted late last month.

"I do support him, so I buy the cup," Taveras said.

"Honestly, it's just, like, a cup to me," he said, but added that it's "interesting" to show the world he supports Obama while he sips coffee through a red straw.

7-Election continues until Election Day on Nov. 4. So far, the 7-Election Web site shows Obama coffee-drinkers ahead of McCain coffee-drinkers in 30 states by more than 18 percentage points.