Last night the Embassy hosted an election night party - I think many embassies do this and in South America you'd be staying up late just like you would in the states. Here in Amman, we stayed up late just waiting for the polls to close and to get a glimmer of the result. We made it until 1:00 (polls not closed anywhere except Dixville Notch NH). The party was a huge success - for the first time ever - large numbers of people were calling my office trying to get on the guest list (this doesn't happen at the more typical embassy reception in honor of a visiting violinist or trade delegation.)The party started at 9:00 with a mock debate with two teachers playing the two candidates followed by other formal programming. Dan has designed the playlist so fun music came through between speakers praising the virtues of democracy. I and a Jordanian colleague were in charge of a presidential trivia contest - sample questions below. The winning table had a mixture of Americans (who had a pretty big advantage) and a few Jordanians who could help with the "what gift did President Eisenhower give King Hussein" questions.
Prior to the party, a local bakery offered to donate cookies to the event. The Embassy was interested in the offer until it heard that the cookies were decorated with just one of the candidate's names. The Embassy asked if plain cookies could be delivered or if the cookies could be decorated 50/50 between the two candidates. The bakery refused and no cookies were at the party. But fortunately for we cookie-eaters, a box of cookies arrived in my office today bearing the name of the new president-elect - we'll just have to assume that if the election went the other way I would still be eating delicious cookies.
1. How many presidents were elected president without winning the popular vote?
A) 1
B) 2
C) 3
D) 4
Answer: D) 4 John Quincy Adams 1824 (elected by Congress) over Andrew Jackson. Rutherford B Hayes 1876 (declared the Electoral College winner by an Electoral Commission) over Samuel J Tilden. Benjamin Harrison 1888 over Grover Cleveland. George W Bush 2000 over Albert Gore.
12. Who has NOT been to Jordan in the last 18 months?
A) Sen. Obama
B) Sen. McCain
C) Sen. Clinton
D) First Lady Laura Bush
Answer: C) Sen. Clinton. Senator Obama visited in July; Senator McCain visited in March; and First Lady Laura Bush visited in October 2007.
19. What was the last state admitted to the union?
A) Governor Palin’s home state of Alaska
B) Senator Obama’s birth state of Hawaii
C) Senator McCain’s home state of Arizona
D) Senator Biden’s birth state of Pennsylvania
Answer: B) Hawaii. Nicknamed the "The Aloha State," Hawaii became the 50th state admitted into the Union on August 21, 1959. Alaska was admitted into the Union on January 3, 1959, becoming the 49th state. Arizona, nicknamed the "Grand Canyon State," was admitted into the Union on February 14, 1912, becoming the Nation's 48th state and the last in the continental United States. Pennsylvania was one of the founding 13 colonies.
20. Who has appeared on the comedy show The Daily Show with Jon Stewart 13 times?
A) Sen. Obama
B) Sen. McCain
C) Sen. Biden
D) Gov. Palin
Answer: B) Senator McCain. Senator McCain has been a guest more often than any other person.
2 comments:
Great story about the cookies! Some people here speculated there would be riots if Obama lost.
It was kind of nice being able to go to bed at midnight with the outcome of the election fairly well determined, for once in the last decade.
I was wondering if there really was world interest in the American elections, or whether that was another example of our perception of self-importance. :-)
Post a Comment