Harry’s Bar in Paris, famous as an American tourist hangout and for sponsoring the International Imitation Hemingway Contest, also runs a Straw Vote for president. It began in 1924, and it’s supposed to have been wrong only once — in 1976, when Carter beat Ford. If this year’s vote holds up, John Kerry will be the next president. (The tally was 54 percent for Kerry, 46 percent for the Ignoramus in Chief. Voting began on Oct. 2 and was open to anyone with an American passport.) How many voters were there? I have no idea. But Kerry won by a larger margin at the Cologne clone of Harry’s Bar, 78 percent to 22 percent. Let’s raise a toast to Harry, who died in 1958, for the glimmer of hope he’s given us.
Postscript: I never thought I’d say this: Let’s raise a toast to Ahnold, too, for backing stem-cell research.Arts, Media & Culture News with 'tude
