What is the Scent of a Liberal?

 

Yesterday’s Pravda-on-the-Hudson reported that the political science profession has done it again. It has come up with something that you desperately need to know:

Conservatives and liberals do not smell the same to potential mates. According to a study published this month in the American Journal of Political Science, people can literally sniff out ideology — and this may explain why so many couples share political beliefs. Or, as the study’s title says, “Assortative Mating on Ideology Could Operate Through Olfactory Cues.”

Researchers led by Brown University political scientist Rose McDermott found that, to a small but significant degree, people prefer the body odor of those who vote as they do.

I have a sneaking suspicion that we are witnessing your tax dollars at work — to wit, that Professor McDermott’s investigation was supported by the National Science Foundation.

But I am not in a position to judge whether her findings are just. I teach at a relatively conservative college, and a large proportion of those around me are conservative in some sort of way. So, I ask those of you who operate in the larger world — especially, those of you who consort nearly every day with, yes, liberals — when it comes to body odor, what is the distinctive scent of a liberal? How can I smell one of them coming my way?

As you ponder how to answer this important question, do keep in mind the Ricochet Code of Conduct.

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  1. Breitheamh Member
    Breitheamh
    @Breitheamh

    Patchouli and eau d’ennui?

    • #1
  2. Albert Arthur Coolidge
    Albert Arthur
    @AlbertArthur

    Dr. Bronner’s.

    • #2
  3. user_1152 Member
    user_1152
    @DonTillman

    Can I interest you in a sample of “Eau de Rhino Squish“?

    • #3
  4. Casey Inactive
    Casey
    @Casey

    So that professor who lives in a dumpster smells different? Who knew?

    • #4
  5. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    Democrats smell of cheap booze, marijuana, and Doritos.

    Republicans smell of virtue and gun oil.

    • #5
  6. AIG Inactive
    AIG
    @AIG

    Seems interesting. But seems like a poorly done study (at least, without seeing their supplementary analysis which they say is available in the on-line version). The effect seems tiny…and barely significant even with a one-tailed test.

    Doesn’t seem very convincing at all actually, given the experiment they set up.

    • #6
  7. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Misth, I was going to say conservatives smell of bourbon and cordite, but your answer works too.

    • #7
  8. Mickerbob Inactive
    Mickerbob
    @Mickerbob

    I usually smell patchouli oil and detect a lack of hair conditioner.  (I attended a Peace Rally in my hometown and this was surprisingly true. It wouldn’t seem that such a personal choice of hygiene would be prevalent based on a mutual love of social justice and Howard Zinn, but well…there you are.) This judgment, as determined by the Grant wasters, is but another way for our Progressive friends to simply see humanity as a set of emotions and urges that cannot be overcome….Sorry, gotta go, I smell my wife coming….

    • #8
  9. Paul A. Rahe Member
    Paul A. Rahe
    @PaulARahe

    I think that I have figured it out. Liberals do not partake of human flesh, and everyone knows — everyone who tunes into the mainstream media — that conservatives eat nothing else. Could that explain the difference in scent?

    • #9
  10. GLDIII Reagan
    GLDIII
    @GLDIII

    Paul A. Rahe

    I think that I have figured it out. Liberals do not partake of human flesh, and everyone knows — everyone who tunes into the mainstream media — that conservatives eat nothing else. Could that explain the difference in scent?

    Everyone knows that carnivores are at the top of the food chair….So it will be soylent green time when those folks collapse our society with their welfare state.

    I hope they are tender.

    • #10
  11. user_554634 Member
    user_554634
    @MikeRapkoch

    Ha Ha!

    • #11
  12. Sandy Member
    Sandy
    @Sandy

    AIG:Seems interesting. But seems like a poorly done study (at least, without seeing their supplementary analysis which they say is available in the on-line version). The effect seems tiny…and barely significant even with a one-tailed test.

    Doesn’t seem very convincing at all actually, given the experiment they set up.

    In other words, it stinks.  Figures.

    • #12
  13. user_199279 Coolidge
    user_199279
    @ChrisCampion

    Who would you rather stand next to, closely, for 30 seconds?

    Mitt Romney, or Bernie Sanders?

    I think that about sums it up.

    • #13
  14. douglaswatt25@yahoo.com Member
    douglaswatt25@yahoo.com
    @DougWatt

    Is it finally time for “scratch and sniff ballots”?

    • #14
  15. Paul A. Rahe Member
    Paul A. Rahe
    @PaulARahe

    My wife suggests an alternative explanation — liberals smell sweeter than conservatives because they are more apt to have recently been smoking weed.

    • #15
  16. Paul A. Rahe Member
    Paul A. Rahe
    @PaulARahe

    Chris Campion:Who would you rather stand next to, closely, for 30 seconds?

    Mitt Romney, or Bernie Sanders?

    I think that about sums it up.

    Are you suggesting that Mitt is more likely to have bathed?

    • #16
  17. Casey Inactive
    Casey
    @Casey

    Romney bathes in Perrier.

    • #17
  18. Casey Inactive
    Casey
    @Casey

    Republican spin: But he bought the Perrier at Costco.

    • #18
  19. iDad Inactive
    iDad
    @iDad

    I don’t know what they smell like, but South Park showed us what they like to smell.

    • #19
  20. x Inactive
    x
    @CatoRand

    I spend all day with ’em and I’ve got no friggin’ idea.

    • #20
  21. Carey J. Inactive
    Carey J.
    @CareyJ

    The scent of a liberal.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP7k4LXM1rE

    • #21
  22. user_199279 Coolidge
    user_199279
    @ChrisCampion

    Paul A. Rahe:

    Chris Campion:Who would you rather stand next to, closely, for 30 seconds?

    Mitt Romney, or Bernie Sanders?

    I think that about sums it up.

    Are you suggesting that Mitt is more likely to have bathed?

    I grew up in the Burlington, VT area, and still live here, so I know that Bernie’s taint still infects the area.  Let’s just say Mitt’s the adult, and Bernie’s the college kid who never grew up or out of his dog-eared copies of What Is To Be Done?

    • #22
  23. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    Chris Campion:… so I know that Bernie’s taint still infects the area.

    Ok now, there is no way that image is CofC compliant.

    • #23
  24. Casey Inactive
    Casey
    @Casey

    Cato Rand:I spend all day with ‘em and I’ve got no friggin’ idea.

    Take a Zyrtec and some saline spray and check back with us later this afternoon.

    • #24
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