We’re almost done with our week-long scientific poll to determine which of three international figures - Britain’s Prince Charles, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama - will be named Coolest Leader Dude.

So far, Charles is confounding the bookmakers by being far ahead in the reader poll.

Today we look at how a cool leader handles a specific requirement of office, consuming ice cream in public to appear to be a man of the people.

Putin goes after the whole thing at once, so he can get back to wrestling a killer shark or whatever. Obama eats his methodically; no drip, no waste, no looking uncool with rivulets of sticky waste cascading down his chin.

And Charles, who apparently has never seen the curious icy substance, is jamming it up his nose just to be a jolly good sport.

Over to you, readers. Vote early and often, and tell your friends to do the same.

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Top: Britain’s Prince Charles smells a spoon full of ice cream in a 2004 file photo. REUTERS/Barry Batchelor

Left upper: Russian President Vladimir Putin eats an ice cream in a 2000 file photo. REUTERS/ Alexander Natruskin

Left lower: U.S. President Barack Obama eats an ice cream in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, August 15, 2009. REUTERS/Larry Downing

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Hey Blog Guy, it’s ME again! I’m the dude with the photo collection of really rich people eating ice cream. You helped me out last year with a shot of Warren Buffet.

I do remember. How’s that coming along?

Not too well. It turns out that theme is kind of limiting, so I’ve started a new collection, of Oscar-nominated actresses under umbrellas.

Yeah, that definitely makes more sense.

But I don’t have any photos in my new collection, and I thought…

Sigh. Okay, here are some of the nominees for tonight’s awards, to get you started.

Thank you! You’re the greatest! Um, do you happen to have any of Oscar-nominated actresses eating ice cream under umbrellas?

Once again, I am SO happy my home address doesn’t appear on this blog.

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Brad Pitt holds umbrella for Angelina Jolie at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008. REUTERS/Fred Dufour/Pool

Kate Winslet arrives for 2009 BAFTA awards ceremony in London February 8, 2009.
REUTERS/ Luke MacGregor

Meryl Streep arrives for the BAFTA ceremony. REUTERS/Stephen Hird

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Blog Guy, recently you had pictures of John McCain, Barack Obama and Joe Biden all eating ice cream, and you said give Sarah Palin a few days and she would also be pandering to ice cream voters. Well, she’s an independent-minded rebel, so are you ready to take it back?

You should check out these pictures of Palin in Wisconsin yesterday. As I predicted, she’s already cramming those icy scoops past her lips as fast as she can.

That’s awful! I expected more! What flavor did she order?

Something with the unfortunate name “Moose Tracks.”

Oh dear. Why is it called that?

I can’t say for sure, but the shop was named The Chocolate Factory, so you connect the tracks. So to speak.

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Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin tastes her “Moose Tracks” ice cream cone during a campaign stop at The Chocolate Factory with U.S. Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, September 5, 2008. REUTERS/ Brian Snyder

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Blog Guy, I worry that the candidates don’t get enough to eat.

Are  you kidding? They won’t starve. Each candidate eats an estimated six gallons of ice cream daily! They go through a dozen cones at a single stop, so all the photographers can get pictures.

I had absolutely no idea!

Sure. Why do you think a dentist travels on each campaign plane, to make sure tooth decay isn’t an issue despite all that sugar?

But what about that lady candidate, Sarah Palin? I don’t see any photos of her eating mounds of ice cream.

Look, she’s a former beauty queen, so she’s a little timid at first. Give her another week and she’ll have syrupy rivulets of butter pecan rolling down her sticky chin, just like the rest of them.

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Republican candidate John McCain in New Concord, Ohio August 29, 2008. REUTERS/John Gress

Democratic nominees Barack Obama and Joe Biden in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, August 29, 2008. REUTERS/Jim Young

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Okay folks, you’ve been trained for your summer ice cream routes, and today you get your assignments. Herb goes to Pleasantville, Ohio. Joyce gets Maple Grove, Oregon. Earl, you’ go to Najaf, Iraq….

Huh? Oh, didn’t I mention we have routes over there? It gets pretty hot, and after a busy day they like their ice cream just as as much as anybody.

Don’t worry about not speaking their language. Check out the Popsicle site. We’ve got products like Mega Missile WarHeads and Lemon-Lime Shots, flavors like Blue Raspberry Bang and Cola Blast, and descriptive phrases like “Your taste buds will explode.” Don’t worry, our customers have heard those words before.

Related post: Dimwit, you flung the Häagen-Dazs!

An Iraqi Shi’ite militiaman allied with anti-U.S. cleric Moqtada al-Sadr pauses to eat ice cream in the city of Najaf as clashes continued with U.S. forces in the area May 21, 2004. REUTERS/Akram Saleh

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Remember me, Blog Guy? My photo collection of the rich and powerful eating ice cream is really taking off, thanks to your help! You mentioned you were trying for a shot of Queen Elizabeth. Any luck yet?

No. We were all set to get one at a demo where ice cream was being made, but instead of scarfing down a big scoop with her bare hands as we were expecting, the Queen just made a hideous face.

That’s scary! What do you suppose happened to that chef?

Oh, grow up! We all watch The Tudors. What do you THINK happened to him?

Ice Cream of the Rich and Famous: Super-rich guy and Political scoops

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth grimaces as chef Heston Blumenthal makes ice cream using liquid nitrogen during the launch of the Royal Institution of Great Britain in London, May 28, 2008. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor

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Blog Guy, I’m the reader who collects pictures of rich people eating ice cream. You really helped me out with that shot of Warren Buffett and a popsicle. I’m expanding my collection to include prominent leaders eating ice cream, and I wonder if you have anything to contribute. 

I was able to come up with shots of the two Democratic presidential candidates eating ice cream. Moreover, they reflect diversity. It turns out Hillary Clinton is a cup person, while Barack Obama is a cone guy.

I was less successful with McCain, who seems happy to just look at ice cream.  And then there’s Britain’s Prince Charles, who appears about to shove ice cream up his nose.  That might be a whole new area for expanding your collection, no?

Charles, REUTERS/Barry Batchelor
Clinton, REUTERS/Jason Reed
McCain,  REUTERS/ John Sommers II
Obama, REUTERS/Keith Bedford

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Blog Guy, I know you sometimes indulge your readers’ fantasies. I collect photographs of really rich people eating ice cream. It isn’t a large collection, but I’m hoping you can help get me some good ones.

I can’t resist a challenge, so I put our shooters on this one. I rejected a shot of Queen Elizabeth drinking a cherry Slurpee from 7-Eleven, on the grounds that it isn’t really ice cream.

But here’s the good news: a photo of billionaire Warren Buffett eating ice cream on a stick! We’re also staking out a Baskin-Robbins near Bill Gates’ house, in case he gets hungry. Is this a great blog, or what?

More about rich people

Billionaire financier and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett eats ice cream during the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, May 3, 2008. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

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