Ordinary Obama vs. regal Romney

The moment he entered Gators Dockside Grill and Bar in Florida Saturday, U.S. President Barack Obama made a clapping gesture by raising and lowering his hands with his arms open wide. He was doing the so-called Gator Chomp, the unique cheering move for the University of Florida’s football team.

The move was a campaign idea of the president, who knows that Americans gather at sports bars on weekends to watch football games.

With his presidential election campaign approaching its climax, Obama is trying to highlight a “regular guy” image by taking advantage of beer and sports. He has visited more than 10 sports bars as part of his reelection campaign since July. Politico, an American politics journal, said Monday that he has stopped by a sports bar in every region he has visited.

In the U.S., a candidate who ignores beer and sports, two things heavily favored by white men, is traditionally expected to never win a presidential election. Critics has blasted Obama’s frequent visits to sports bars in swing states while mingling with Hollywood celebrities to raise election funds, calling it a “too obvious regular guy strategy.”

In contrast, Republican candidate Mitt Romney, a Mormon, does not drink and has little interest in sports. When he stopped by a NASCAR race track in Indiana in February, he was asked by a slew of reporters if he was an auto racing fan. Romney said, “I am not a big fan, but owners of several NASCAR teams are my friends.”

Critics were quick to pounce on this, saying he did not know the sentiment of ordinary Americans. The Massachusetts governor spent his summer vacation with his family, riding Jet Ski and a yacht, a far cry from the sports of the American working class. Thus he displayed the image of a man from the noble class.

Obama was leading Romney by 5 percentage points in approval ratings following the Democratic National Convention, but according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll Monday, the race has turned again into a neck-and-neck competition with 49 percent for Obama and 48 percent for Romney.