Workplace phenomenon: Suddenly, Everyone Hanging Out at the Water Cooler Is a Political Expert

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT: Suddenly, Everyone Hanging Out at the Water Cooler Is a Political Expert
By LISA W. FODERARO
Published: February 14, 2008

....From small businesses to global conglomerates, the 2008 presidential nominating contest is fast becoming the topic of conversation around the proverbial water cooler — and cubicle, and conference room. Suddenly, everyone’s a political maven, and the workplace, with easy access to potential debating partners, as well as Web sites like Slate and Politico, has become ground zero for political prognosticating.

“I can’t remember anything like this,” said John A. Marino, a former chairman of the New York State Democratic Party and managing partner at Dan Klores Communications, a public relations firm in Manhattan. “There’s rarely a time when I get in an elevator, up or down, where someone doesn’t say, ‘What do you think?’ I mean, we’re still eight months from the election.”

Experts on workplace culture say that with all the other distractions at the office, the conversation about Hillary and Huck, Big Mac and Barack, is unlikely to have an adverse impact on productivity. Such focus on the future of the body politic, as opposed to, say, a fleeting sporting event, might even be good for office morale by unleashing energy and building camaraderie....

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Members of certain professions like the news media are naturally attuned to the workings and language of politics. So for them, this election season feels a little like cranking up the volume on a favorite radio station. But for the first time in recent memory, even those who profess ignorance, who confess to barely mustering the energy to pull a lever on Election Day, find themselves sparring with colleagues and boning up on the strange system of superdelegates....

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Ms. Sumberg, the workplace expert, said that the esprit de corps fostered by convivial debate outweighed any temporary dip in productivity. She said that this election, with the parallels being drawn between Senator Obama and President John F. Kennedy, has a special ability to bring age groups together in the workplace. “I’m 28, and I don’t think my generation has seen an election this exciting ever,” she said. “It evokes the idealism that J.F.K. brought forth, and that’s an interesting connection for the boomers and Generation Y.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/14/nyregion/14distract.html

[jojo54]

1. Funny, the same thing happened in '00.

It's a shame that they were mostly sheeple.