Democrats (And Jeb!) Run On Dunkin’

When you ask any of the candidates trying to rack up votes in New Hampshire today what the secret to their success is, they will say lots of things. They might talk about their ideas, or the policy proposals; they might tout their record as a winner, or a reformer, or unifying figure; they might tell you a very interesting story about being born in a log cabin they built themselves by hand.

But no one will tell the truth — because the truth is coffee.

At least that would be the apparent conclusion one could draw from Boston.com’s hard-hitting series on the coffee purchasing habits of the various campaigns.

There is a lot to drink in. (No, we’re not sorry at all for that pun; we stand by it.)

So the big takeaways: When it comes to campaign coffee, there are basically two camps — team Starbucks and team Dunkin’ Donuts. And yes, those teams are shockingly partisan. Hillary Clinton’s campaign has spent $1,866 on Dunkin’ Donuts, which puts her caffeine related expenditures far and away the highest of any. Those funds were largely expended in large chunks, including two $341 purchases in Des Moines, Iowa, in June and two $292 expenses in Rochester, N.H., in September.

It starts with the coffee, then the donuts, then the egg sandwiches — we’re just saying, it might sound ridiculous, but all New Englanders have been there.

New Englanders like Bernie Sanders, whose campaign team is the third biggest Dunks spender, purchasing $106 and $132 worth of donuts and coffee in September. Probably in rolled loose change.

Democrats are partisan coffee buyers we should note — as neither campaign spent any money at Starbucks.

Nope, if one wants Starbucks one is going to have to start rolling with the Republicans. The Cruz campaign has spent $200 at Starbucks over the course of 28 stops there during the campaign. But Cruz trails in Starbucks adoration when stacked up against the Rubio campaign, whose staff has been to Starbucks 51 times and spent $386.

Rubio, it should be noted, is something of a bipartisan coffee drinker. Though they were the Starbucks leader, the Rubio campaign also visited Dunks 13 times and spent over $200. They clearly like coffee and don’t care where it comes from.

As for aisle crossers, Jeb has shown himself not to be a partial man in at least one important regard: his campaign is all about the Dunkin’ Donuts. They were the the number two spender at the chain (spending $402), and were tied in with the Clinton campaign for 15 visits.

Kasich’s people don’t seem to drink coffee, making us wonder what exactly it is they are doing to stay awake 30 hours at a time in New Hampshire — and Trump has only dropped ~$10 in a Manchester Dunkin’ Donuts so far.

We look forward to updating you on candidates’ preferences regarding Waffle House vs. IHOP when the campaign shifts to South Carolina next week.