GREEN TEA-GATE!

You may have already seen this Palm Beach Post story:

During a luncheon speech Monday to the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches, CNN political correspondent Candy Crowley shared an early memory from the campaign trail that may explain why John Kerry will not be president next year.

In January 2003, when his campaign was still young enough that Kerry would actually sit down with reporters in a relaxed setting, he and Crowley met for breakfast at the Holiday Inn in Dubuque, Iowa.

"I'd like to start out with some green tea," Kerry told the waitress, who stared at him for a moment before responding, "We have Lipton's."

Lipton's would be fine, Kerry said, but the memory stayed with Crowley.

"There were many green tea instances," she told the sell-out crowd of 450 at the Kravis Center's Cohen Pavilion. "There's a very large disconnect between the Washington politicians and most of America and how they live. Bush was able to bridge that gap, and Kerry was not."

And you may have already seen the response by Media Matters for America, which points out, among other things, that you can buy green tea made by Lipton at two Dubuque Kmart stores.

I'd just like to add this: Hain Celestial Group, the parent company of Celestial Seasonings (which, is probably the brand you think of first when you think of green tea), had sales of more than half a billion dollars in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2004. For what products? Go to the link and watch the brands scroll by -- Health Valley, Terra Chips, Westsoy, Westbrae Natural, and Garden of Eatin', to name a few, in addition to Celestial Seasonings. In other words, this natural-foods stuff is pretty big business. It can't just be effete richies who are buying it.

Also, as I've mentioned in the past, Bush goes posh in certain areas of his life as well. He's been known to buy the rather expensive cowboy boots made by Loveless, which specializes in the use of materials such as Anteater, African Wildebeest, and Water Buffalo. (UPDATE: Sorry -- I misread that; Bush's father was the boot buyer.) And parties at the Bush ranch have featured snazzy portable toilets provided by Black Tie Services, which, according to the company's Web site, typically feature

heating and air conditioning, oak cabinetry and wall trim, full-length mirrors, simulated marble walls, simulated wood laminated floors, china sinks with hot and cold running water, stereo music, art decor, porcelain toilets in fully enclosed stalls, and partitioned porcelain urinals for optimum privacy

and look like this:



So why was Kerry treated as the only elitist in the race? Because, when it comes to ordinariness, Bush is better at faking it?