Politics won’t feature rising tensions, relentless stress and bitter arguments tomorrow at the 7-Eleven Convenience Store, 1490 Sheridan Dr. in Kenmore. In fact, people will be smiling, laughing and maybe fidgeting a little more than usual due to caffeine. It’ll be abnormal, but cool.

During each election year, 7-Eleven unveils custom coffee cups for the leading Presidential candidates. As November nears, the convenience store will offer red cups for drinkers in support of Republican Mitt Romney and blue cups for Obama advocates, and then will tally the numbers of each cup purchased through Nov. 6. It’s like a mini-election!

To add a little fun to the contest, Erie County Republican Committee Chairman Nicholas A. Langworthy will join Erie County Democratic Committing Chairman Leonard R. Lenihan for an event between 11:30 and noon Friday. By purchasing their coffees, the duo will also submit 7-Election votes in a short, relaxed ceremony.

It’s noteworthy that the results of the last three 7-Elections have mirrored those of the real-life elections, as customers have vouched for George W. Bush twice consecutively before backing Barack Obama in 2008 (in case you are unfamiliar with the last three Presidents, that is.)

Since Saturday is National Coffee Day, 7-Eleven has dubbed Friday “CofFree Day” from 6 and 10 a.m. Buffalo-area McDonald’s locations have jumped on the National Coffee Day bandwagon, too, offering a free small coffee all day long beginning this past Monday and running through Saturday. Tim Hortons gives customers a free doughnut with the purchase of any size coffee as well.

Most local coffee shops, unfortunately, are not participating in National Coffee Day, as we reached out to several.