Pepsi Sucks and Pepsi Drinkers are Morons. Here's a Coke. Drink It!

[MineralMan]

How well does that argument work, do you think? Instead, how about this:

"I've tried Pepsi and don't like it as much as Coke. Have you tried Coke? I have one here. Would you like to try it?"

Discussions of personal preferences, including political discussions at primary time, are a lot like talking about soft drink preferences. We're all trying to convince people that our point of view makes more sense. How we do that is important.

Pepsi and Coke are both cola drinks. Clinton and Sanders are both running as democrats. It's not like comparing either to Sprite or 7-Up. They're similar. A person who likes one might well like the other after a try. Same thing with candidates.

[bravenak]

1. I love this post!

[MineralMan]

27. Thanks, and welcome back!

[bravenak]

35. Thank you and yr welcome!

[Dr Hobbitstein]

2. One Should Never Have To Choose Between The Lesser Of Two Corporate Evils!

RC Cola 2016!

[MineralMan]

3. Well, that's true enough.

Not very many people are that familiar with RC Cola, so it's starting out with limited public recognition. Still, if you have one on you, I'll be happy to taste it.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

14. Red Rock Cola is good too.

Good luck finding it. Used to be able to get it in the FL panhandle. My buddy's dad would pick me up a 12 pack every time he came down to visit. Last time he came down, he said he hadn't seen it anywhere in over a year.

[MineralMan]

17. Try asking for it in Atlanta.

I understand it's available there again.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

47. Next time I'm in GA, I will.

I'm a central Florida guy.

[randys1]

4. First of all, only a moron would prefer Diet Pepsi to Diet Coke.

I am dead serious about this...

Pepsi

what a smeghead

[MineralMan]

6. Ah...now you're getting into Cola Lite territory.

The Webb and Chafee of cola drinks. I think they're out of the competition, really.

[w0nderer]

13. Pepsi, not mango juice?

I want to lie shipwrecked and comatose

Drinking fresh mango juice

[randys1]

16. I have to go without my diet coke for 24 hours due to a medical test, and I dont know what

To drink

They said NO caffeine free soda cuz that allegedly still has caffeine

Dont know what to drink

[bravenak]

20. WATER

[randys1]

22. Water, like watching The Brady Bunch or something, BORING

[bravenak]

25. I drink it!! And I'm fine! I use to hate it. Try a Kern's Nectar. I love those.

[randys1]

29. I can try one of those...pretty sure no caffeine

[bravenak]

37. Yep. No caffeine. It upsets my stomach so I avoid soda now.

I'm already hyper and doing five things at once, so I better stay away from buzzy stuff.

[MineralMan]

31. Their Apricot Nectar is my favorite, followed by Pear.

In fact, I'm going to the supermarket this afternoon. I'll pick some up. It's been awhile.

[bravenak]

34. I love Mango and Guava. Ummm.

It's like eating a piece of fruit but better in a way.

[BlueCheese]

49. Coke Zero is pretty good.

[NCTraveler]

5. You really covered a lot of ground with respect to du in this one post. nt.

[MineralMan]

63. I try.

[whatchamacallit]

7. You've outdone yourself with awesome 'mineralocity'

Did you ever see the King of the Hill where Peggy starts posting her "musings" in the local paper? You always bring it to mind...

[MineralMan]

9. I don't watch episodic television programs, so no.

[Capt. Obvious]

54. He's DU's Dad Joke

[liberal N proud]

8. I have tried Pepsi many times and I still don't like it

But if I will drink it before I will other soft drinks.

Same goes for political candidates. I will tolerate the other brand when I have to as opposed to the other party. But that does not mean I will like it.

[MineralMan]

10. Hmm...have a Dr. Pepper, then.

It's the non-cola. Some folks like it just fine, even if it does have prunes in it. Blech!

Of course, if you're really off the beaten track, have a Vernors, if you can find one.

Or, a Cheerwine, if you happen to be in North Carolina.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

48. I grew up on Vernors.

Still readily available in Central Florida. Strangely, Cheerwine is also widely available in Central Florida.

[MineralMan]

56. I tried Cheerwine in NC once.

Didn't really care for it, though. I used to buy a Vernors once in a while, but never could figure out why. I kept trying it, but never did acquire a taste for it.

[NaturalHigh]

11. What if I like Coke but I don't mind drinking Pepsi either?

[MineralMan]

12. Then you are a tolerant person with cosmopolitan taste.

No Pepsi - Coke! with your cheezborger cheezborger.

[Ed Suspicious]

15. Coke disintegrates nails. Pepsi makes me fart rainbows. I like rainbows. I'll take a Pepsi.

[MineralMan]

18. You like Rainbows. Try a Faygo Redpop.

Juggalo-Approved!

[Ed Suspicious]

28. Pretty much anything Faygo is what I drink lately when it comes to softdrinks. Faygo cola and

Mountain Mist are my personal faves.

Good suggestion.

[MineralMan]

32. See. I know my sodas.

In Minnesota, though, natives call them all "pop." Can't get used to it, but there it is. It's all fizzy, though.

I haven't found Faygo here, though.

[hedgehog]

19. I don't drink either very often, but I think that Pepsi now tastes like Coca Cola used to taste,

and vice versa. I now prefer Pepsi to Coke. Did I evolve, or did the formulas change?

[MineralMan]

39. Coke Hurts! At least it used to.

The high carbonation levels gave it a burning sensation on the tongue. I never got that from Pepsi.

Coke story: While in the USAF, I got stationed in Turkey, on the Black Sea. The day I flew from NYC to Istanbul, I had a fever and the flu. I had a stopover in Istanbul, and a voucher for a hotel there that included dinner. As soon as I checked in, I went down to the bar and ordered a Coke. The bartender brought me a very large, fizzy glass full of ice and Coke, with a lemon wedge.

That was the very best Coke of my life. The classic Coke burn cleared the fuzz off my tongue and made this 20 year old kid wake up after a 14 hour flight to a country I'd barely heard of. It started me off right.

[elleng]

21. and Martin O'Malley is a Democrat, running for President.

Read about him here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1281

Watch and listen to him on Morning Joe here: http://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/omalley--i-am-energized-by-this-race-551941699747

[MineralMan]

23. He's like RC Cola. Not as well known, but preferred by some.

[elleng]

24. Yes, and coming up,

Preferred by MANY!

[ChisolmTrailDem]

26. We all know about O'Malley. Why do you think we don't? nt

[elleng]

36. I think you've asked me this in the past,

and I responded that I repeatedly hear from DUers that they don't know about him. It is not true that 'we all know about O'Malley,) tho everyone should.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

38. DUers know who O'Malley is. nt

[madamesilverspurs]

30. I'll take mine chilled, no ice.

Can I put peanuts in the bottle? Or add a little milk?

[MineralMan]

40. As you like it...always!

[3catwoman3]

55. Milk?

Why?

[Autumn]

33. As soon as a soda can push policies that impact me I'll be sure and try that.n/t

[MineralMan]

41. Ah, a literalist.

OK.

[Skinner]

42. I think there is one assumption in your post that is not universally true.

You say:

We're all trying to convince people that our point of view makes more sense.

I don't think this is true for most people. Whether it be on DU or Twitter or Facebook or somewhere else, I think that very few people who discuss politics on the Internet are actually posting in order to try to persuade.

To be clear, I don't think we are conscious of our own motivations here. I think we all believe that we are somehow helping our cause by participating in these discussions and arguing in favor of our own candidate. But I don't think many of us are giving much (if any) thought to how to be the most persuasive. In fact, I would submit that persuasion is very low on our list of priorities here.

To those of you who are capable of self-reflection, try to REALLY THINK honestly about what really motivates you when you post. What audience are you imagining in your head when you post? And how is your post designed to appeal to that audience?

I submit that most of us, when we post our political opinions on the Internet, are doing so in order to gain the approval of people who already largely agree with us.

So here on DU we have post after post after post by committed supporters of one candidate or the other, and the vast majority of these posts are very obviously designed to appeal to people who already support the same candidate as the speaker. We crave the approval of our peers, and in a discussion forum context that means people who agree with us.

So yes, the OP is correct that calling Pepsi drinkers morons is unlikely to be persuasive. But the point is that most of us aren't trying to talk to Pepsi drinkers. Instead we're signaling to other Coke drinkers that we share their awesome soft-drink preference, and we are part of the in-group.

(Please note that this post does not point the finger at any particular candidate's supporters. The intended audience for this post is everyone.)

[MineralMan]

44. Pretty much right on, I think.

I prefer trying to convince people, I guess. Too many years spent canvassing people. Thank you for your very thoughtful reply to this off-the-wall thread!

[saturnsring]

43. excpt one has a really good chance of making it to the whitehouse the other called himself

a socialist and now will get crushed by the media in the general thereby letting the cons make scotus picks

[MineralMan]

45. Both are serious candidates. I can see points in each of them

I agree with. I find no value in attempting to demonize either.

[saturnsring]

46. i agree with you on all these points but i believe (at this point) that one has a better shot at the

w.h. than the other

[MineralMan]

57. So do I. I wonder if we're thinking of the same person, though.

It seems like supporters of both Clinton and Sanders believe they would win. Interesting.

[saturnsring]

60. well idk who's going to win i was saying, and the polls back it up, that one candidate has a better

chance. I'd be happy with either democratic candidate but scotus is too important to risk on a candidate that isn't polling as well as the other. one candidate has been under the con's magnifying glass for decades the other hasn't had the media turn on him yet.
additionally, one candidate already has relationships with many of the players with which potus will be dealing the other no, that candidate talks mostly of domestic issues the handling of which is a job of congress not potus.

but my post was about who has a better chance at this point but the election is a ways off

[MasonDreams]

50. Its not about how it tastes. Is it sugar, or does it maintain health? How about Lessig?

With Obama as V. P. and then most of a third term!!!

[Blue_Adept]

51. both are better than the rancid wastewater that is the other side

Some pretty easy allusions to the water pollution stories we had so much last year with the likes of trump, rubio, et al.

[cascadiance]

52. I favor coke, but Mexican coke I buy at Costco. Because it doesn't have HFCS in it...

... and has real sugar in it instead. I base my taste on on just what is marketed to me, but what is tangibly better for my body in drinking this kind of coke over pepsi. Now some might said avoid drinking soft drinks at all. That is a fair criticism, but if I'm going to drink them, I'll choose that. And for those that want to say drink diet drinks instead, well many of them have just as harmful if not more harmful ingredients in the diet sugar substitutes also linked to disease, and also don't help your body tell when it has what it needs in calories like regular sugar does, that diet drinks do not, which has it craving calories more from other sources when it isn't satisfied.

[chillfactor]

53. I am a Pepsi addict.....

I try a coke every one in awhile but it is like drinking bad water....

[ThoughtCriminal]

58. I'm still on fence with that whole "Taste great! Less filling!" thing from the 80's

[MineralMan]

62. But that was beer.

Beer's different.

[DemocraticWing]

64. I like beer more.

Although the strange microbrew from Rhode Island, "Chafee Light," just didn't do it for me. I'm glad it's off the market.

[treestar]

59. Yes, I have no idea why people wish to work up a hatred

for any Democratic candidate, let alone the one who is more likely to be the nominee.

[MineralMan]

61. Nor do I.

It makes no logical sense at all.

[ibegurpard]

65. this utterly specious analogy

Goes a long way towards explaining why the political class cannot wrap their heads around the appeal of someone like Bernie Sanders. They don't have to live with the results of their corporate - money driven policy decisions like most of the people out in the real world.