April 19, 2012

"A double-vanilla ticket will be attacked as un-diverse by the media."

Double-vanilla! Michael Barone uses the term in discussing Mitt Romney's reasons for picking a white male VP. (His "vanilla" males are Paul Ryan, Rob Portman, Mitch Daniels, and Bob McDonnell.)

Did Barone invent that term? He says "what opponents might call a double-vanilla ticket." Do opponents already say that or is that a Barone invention?

Is "double vanilla" an acceptable term?
  
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60 comments:

Bob Ellison said...

Barack Obama might devour a West Highland terrier topped with whipped cream.

Sorun said...

A double-vanilla ticket will be attacked as un-diverse by the media.

Who cares? You attract the Hispanic vote the same way you attract the white and Asian vote. Good economics.

Fen said...

A double-vanilla ticket will be attacked as un-diverse by the media

Jesus Christ. Didn't we just spend 4 years learning the hard way that choosing leaders based on skin color leads to disaster?

He sounds like a McCain staffer, ie. "this is where all my maverick connections with the media will pay off!"... How did that work for ya, John?

bgates said...

I'm with Bob - this is a bad day to try to associate "vanilla" with anything but a flavor.

Mitt and his running mate will like vanilla; Obama might enjoy a deep fried collie, and Biden will chew on the briefcase with the nuclear launch codes if you don't watch him, because he thinks it looks "fudgy".

wv "almnly gneernm": sounds Obama makes while he's eating a dog.

ndspinelli said...

Yes..lighten up is the correct answer.

That was easy.

Scott M said...

The current vernacular uses "vanilla" to mean the stripped-down, non-modded, non-updated version of software (or hardware, I suppose). Used to denote race, not so much.

Ray Neigan was allowed to use "chocolate" to describe a New Orleans populated by blacks instead of whites and latinos...and wasn't the backpedaling on that one amusing?

Sigivald said...

Is there a way to parse that that doesn't end up with "we now have a quota for non-white and/or non-male candidates"?

One despairs for the Republic.

Bender said...

Double vanilla means doubly bland and boring.

Seriously, Tom Daschle was frenetic fireworks compared to Romney.

ndspinelli said...

And vaanilla has gotten a bad rap. Eat vanilla ice cream in countries like Mexico where they use local fresh vanilla w/ flecks of vanilla bean. It's better than chocolate

Dust Bunny Queen said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
damikesc said...

He says "what opponents might call a double-vanilla ticket."

Only thing less diverse than that ticket is Obama's re-election HQ staff.

I've seen albinos with more color than his re-election HQ staff.

Howard Dean has been the governor of a state with more blacks than Obama's re-election HQ staff.

Progressive blogs have more non-whites writing for them than Obama has working for his re-election HQ staff.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

SO can we now talk about the Mocha Chocolata Obama ticket?

Cafe au lait?

Race in food terms.

Awesome!!

damikesc said...

Seriously, Tom Daschle was frenetic fireworks compared to Romney.

Dan Quayle was highly experienced and extremely competent when compared to Obama.

The Three Stooges are erudite when compared to Biden.

bagoh20 said...

Pick Christy and get the whole damned batch of vanilla.


I'd love to have that dude as Romney's attack dog dueling with the press every day. It would be fun.

ricpic said...

Let's not forget that we're all PEOPLE. So what possible difference could it make whether a ticket is double vanilla or double chocolate? No difference. None at all... oh...you have doubts? Welcome to REALITY!

damikesc said...

Don't want to say Obama's re-election HQ staff is monochromatic, but if you shaved and bathed them, they could pass for milk.

Fen said...

Only thing less diverse than that ticket is Obama's re-election HQ staff.

Yup, I saw the same group pic.

And now they've initiated a minority hiring plan to fix their diversity shortfall... 6 months before the election.

Democrats must think black people are really stupid.

Of course, it will be hard to respect them when 90% vote for the same con again.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

A double-white bread ticket and you're on your way to a tasty sammich.

Icepick said...

Pick Christy and get the whole damned batch of vanilla.

And Bagoh wins the tread!

Wince said...

"A double-vanilla ticket will be attacked as un-diverse by the media."

How about one sprinkled with "jimmies"?

wv - "roovs nartion" = Carl Rove is taking over!

ndspinelli said...

Mitch Daniels would be a kiddy soft serve vanilla choice. Ryan, vanilla w/ chocolate crown.

Scott M said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Scott M said...

Don't want to say Obama's re-election HQ staff is monochromatic, but if you shaved and bathed them, they could pass for milk.

damikesc gets another FCYT from me.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

No one is as 'double vanilla' as these guys.

The focus on race and racial division has gotten so much worse since Obama came to heal the planet.

Chuck66 said...

What do Vanilla Ice, Eminem, and Barack Obama have in common? All are white guys who got famous pretenting to be black.

Chuck66 said...

According to the Federal gov't, you only need statistics to prove racial discrimination. If your factory has more whites and Aisians, and fewer hispanics, that alone is proof (in the federal regulators eyes) of discrimination. See Cargill plant in Arkansas.

So what does that say about Obama's office in Chicago, a city with a majority black-hispanic population?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Do opponents already say that or is that a Barone invention?

Its a Barone invention.. to try and coax the democrats, who are in the GSA owned air conditioned dog house, to take a bite.

Get them to go nuke early.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Pick Christy and get the whole damned batch of vanilla.

I hear but..
That dog wont hunt.

Tank said...

I want the flavor that says:

"Borrowing 40% of what we spend has to stop."

OK, is that vanilla, chocolate, or what?

How about this time we try not to elect the stupid/stupider ticket, i.e. the one we got last time.

Hagar said...

When I saw the headline yesterday, I did indeed immediately think of double bland and boring technocrats.
I did not realize it might also refer to skin color until I saw this post.

Hagar said...

And the best ice cream I ever tasted was a large vanilla (only flavor sold) cone with a strawberry on top in Aalborg, Denmark.
No "low fat" nonsense about that one!

Gene said...

If Romney-Ryan is "double vanilla," then Obama-Biden is "one-point-five vanilla."

paul a'barge said...

White Supremacy may be historical but it's not a problem. It's a feature.

If you want the job done right you must go white. Once you go black you can never fix things enough to get back.

Barack Hussein Obama
Atty General Holder
Al Sharpton
Jesse Jackson
Trayvon Martin (and his hoard of women's jewelry).

Need I say more?

Tarzan said...

"Twin Vanillas" sounds much better to my ears. Just saying.

wyo sis said...

We should all be color blind. We all are not. Might as well get some humor out of it. If we could laugh a little more we might not get so angry.

Amartel said...

"Double vanilla" is an acceptable term to describe the way the mainstream media would depict the Republican ticket, regardless of who was on the ticket.

Amartel said...

And i agree with the commenter who said vanilla has a bogus bad rep. Vanilla is delicious and, bonus, it plays well with others. It only has a bad rep because it's white - ish.

Chip Ahoy said...

Yes, it is racist and I'm outraged.

* steams *

This effrontery to vanilla cannot go unchallenged.

Vanilla, McGee says, is one of the most popular flavors in the world. Known for the richness, depth, and persistence of its flavor.

Three factors go into the awesomeness of vanilla according to McGee. The pod's rich phenolic defensive compounds, mostly vanillin, a good supply of sugars and amino acids, and curing.

Those things are released when damage to the pod brings the enzymes into contact with the stored forms of phenols. So the key to good vanilla is deliberate damage to the pod followed by prolonged drying that concentrates. So cured vanilla beans are concentrated.

To cure. Kill the beans. It stops them from using up its sugars. Damage the pods.

Then the work and close attention really starts, after the hand pollination and the branding, branding, and the vigilance against pod rustlers. I read that bit in Smithsonian so that makes it fact. Spread out in the sun until the pods are too hot to touch. Wrap the pods up to sweat. Back and forth. Scorch in sun until too hot, wrap and sweat, scorch and sweat, scorch and sweat, scorch and sweat, for days and days and days. You begin to notice all this is somewhat labor intensive.

During that back and forth scorching and sweating, spreading out and wrapping back up, the main flavor components, vanillin and other phenolic molecules are freed from their sugar molecules. The heat and sunlight evaporate moisture and discourages microbes.

The pods are straightened by hand, dried for several weeks and aged further.

20% water, 20% fiber, 25% sugars, 15% fat, the rest amino acids, phenolic compounds and other flavors.

Sugars provide sweetness, free amino acids provide savoriness, fat provides richness, tannins astringency. The aroma is complex with 200 different volatile compounds found.

The vanillin is primary and characteristic but the other important volatiles contribute flavor notes that are described as, from McGee, woody, floral, green-leaf, tobacco, dried-fruit, clove-like, honey-like, caramel, smoky, earthy, and buttery.

BarrySanders20 said...

So what ice cream dish does that make Obama and Biden?

A soft-serve twist with a side dish of butter pecan (vanilla, but a bit nutty)?

crosspatch said...

Has anyone ever seen a white vanilla bean?

Rusty said...

Chip Ahoy said...
Yes, it is racist and I'm outraged.

* steams *

This effrontery to vanilla cannot go unchallenged.

Vanilla, McGee says, is one of the most popular flavors in the world. Known for the richness, depth, and persistence of its flavor.

Three factors go into the awesomeness of vanilla according to McGee. The pod's rich phenolic defensive compounds, mostly vanillin, a good supply of sugars and amino acids, and curing.

Those things are released when damage to the pod brings the enzymes into contact with the stored forms of phenols. So the key to good vanilla is deliberate damage to the pod followed by prolonged drying that concentrates. So cured vanilla beans are concentrated.

To cure. Kill the beans. It stops them from using up its sugars. Damage the pods.

Then the work and close attention really starts, after the hand pollination and the branding, branding, and the vigilance against pod rustlers. I read that bit in Smithsonian so that makes it fact. Spread out in the sun until the pods are too hot to touch. Wrap the pods up to sweat. Back and forth. Scorch in sun until too hot, wrap and sweat, scorch and sweat, scorch and sweat, scorch and sweat, for days and days and days. You begin to notice all this is somewhat labor intensive.

During that back and forth scorching and sweating, spreading out and wrapping back up, the main flavor components, vanillin and other phenolic molecules are freed from their sugar molecules. The heat and sunlight evaporate moisture and discourages microbes.

The pods are straightened by hand, dried for several weeks and aged further.

20% water, 20% fiber, 25% sugars, 15% fat, the rest amino acids, phenolic compounds and other flavors.

Sugars provide sweetness, free amino acids provide savoriness, fat provides richness, tannins astringency. The aroma is complex with 200 different volatile compounds found.

The vanillin is primary and characteristic but the other important volatiles contribute flavor notes that are described as, from McGee, woody, floral, green-leaf, tobacco, dried-fruit, clove-like, honey-like, caramel, smoky, earthy, and buttery.




So. You like vanilla?

Superdad said...

Archie Bunker said it best ...

Archie: What’s the matter with this? I call this representative government. You’ve got Salvatori, Feldman, O’Reilly, Nelson–that’s an Italian, a Jew, an Irishman and a regular American there. That’s what I call a balanced ticket.

Meathead: Why do you always have to label people by nationality?

Archie: ‘Cause, how else are you going to get the right man for the right job? For instance, take Feldman there. He’s up for treasurer. Well, that’s perfect. All them people know how to handle money. Know what I mean?

Meathead: No, I don’t.

Archie: Well, then you got Salvatori running for D.A. He can keep an eye on Feldman. You know, I want to tell you something about the Italians. When you do get an honest one, you really got something there.

Meathead: Aw, c’mon, Arch.

Archie: Well, then here you got O’Reilly, the mick. He can see that the graft is equally spread around, you know. You got Nelson, the American guy. He’s good for TV appearances, to make the rest of them look respectable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LEbQye_AMQ

DADvocate said...

Double vanilla reminds me of last Saturday night with those blonde twins.

edutcher said...

Barry/Joe is Double Vanilla, too - Zero is the whitest white guy in the world.

gadfly said...

"Cured vanilla beans range in color from a deep red to brown to black. Chocolate brown beans are preferred by extractors and black beans by gourmet chefs. Most of our Grade A beans are dark brown or black and can be used for most purposes."

Romney's staff had best get on the horn and call J. C. Watts or Allen West. Vanilla is nowhere white unless mixed with cream. Of course, they could also handle the gender problem by calling Condy Rice.

yashu said...

So I guess that would make Rubio dulce de leche.

MadisonMan said...

I think if Romney is asked about it in this Vanilla way (What do you say to people who say this is a Double Vanilla ticket?), he should ask the asker if he refers to Obama as the Chocolate candidate, because he, Romney, finds the characterization kind of offensive.

I have a big bottle of Vanilla Syrup from Mexico. I am going to bake some cookies with it, and with my bottle of CostCo Kirkland Vanilla, and compare. I suspect the Mexican Vanilla is superior.

MadisonMan said...

Not syrup, extract.

Thorley Winston said...

Double vanilla means doubly bland and boring.


So long as it comes with competence, I will gladly take it twice a day and three times on Sundays.

bgates said...

He can see that the graft is equally spread around, you know

Because when you spread the graft around, it's good for everybody.

Chip S. said...

I'll take a double vanilla over a second helping of rocky road any day.

Geoff Matthews said...

Ya'll have noticed that Vanilla isn't white. It just isn't enough colour to change the naturally occurring colour of cream.
Down with ice-cream centric metaphors.

Dante said...

If Obama can have that twit Biden, then I want a Veep that is pleasing to look at. I want a pretty face. I want curves to drool over. Yes, I want Romney to pick the Obama girl.

Anonymous said...

Madison man, best vanilla extract I've used is Madagascar vanilla. I've had the Mexican vanilla, seemed like it took three times the amount called for in the recipe to taste it.

wyo sis said...

Good one Chip S.
The boys over at Hillbuz call it "cucumber-and-mayonnaise sandwich" much more descriptive. Still, better than the sh-t sandwich Obama is trying to force on us.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Instead of double vanilla, could I get one scoop of Schweddy Balls and one of Karamel Sutra?

Freeman Hunt said...

Don't care about the flavor as long as it's double competent.

Choirboy626 said...

ATL is a chocolate city, in the same manner as New Orleans. The metaphor is apt and evocative. I am tired of being hectored by language police about my word choice. If I choose to relate an idea about RACE or the legacy of colonialism & chattel slavery in the New World, I may choose to evoke voices as diverse as Shakespeare, Twain, Douglas, Falkner, Ellison, & Morrison. Why should they be allowed to use those words and metaphors to tell their stories and build their cases and expose their arguments, but not me? Maybe my discourse isn't elevated, maybe it isn't important or especially informed, maybe it isn't helpful and doesn't contribute anything new to the discussion. But my thoughts and their expression deserve the same fair, neutral tolerance.

Oreo, Banana, Double Vanilla, Chocolate City, miscegenation, nappy, niggardly, tar baby.

Prissing and prattling about anybody's word choice WITHOUT considering the content of the message and the accumulated actions of the speaker, reveals one as a partisan HACK, pushing to silence dialogue and progress. And that is exactly what this is.

Any political party choosing a running mate would be wise to consider the different reactions diverse groups and constituencies would have to their candidate's chances of winning. Naturally, now that the O vs. R contest is set, it is time for the party to look to the future and game out the different options. When Democrats feel that it's natural for Gays or Black people or Hispanic immigrants to vote for their party simply because they want to give these groups more government aid (even if that isn't the best solution), the Democrats are treating these voters in a patronizing manner. Yet, they still plan to throw racial outrage penalty flags on every play. Any choice of VP will be loaded with 'they are doing that because they are RAAAAACIST' OR 'they only did that so they wouldn't show how RAAAAACIST they really are.'

You can't win against that style of sophistry by being reasonable and respectful of their rules and conditions, since their rules and conditions are created to throw the game their way. REFUSE TO PLAY. Show them where they have used the same language, metaphors and crazy reasoning themselves. Use their cudgel against them.

gloogle said...

I remember years ago, when Rush had his syndicated TV show, that there was some similar "outrage" that the Deemocrats manufactured over some Republican using the word "vanilla". The Dems claimed it was some type of "racist" code word.

Rush held up a bottle of vanilla, and smiling, said, "Have you ever LOOKED at a bottle of vanilla? It's brown."

I'll never forget that...

lonetown said...

mmmmm, vanilla.