Which candidate represents the "beer vote"?

(1 vote)

Written by DJ Spiess

Tuesday, 10 June 2008

The 2008 American election so far is one for the story books, but have you decided who gets the beer vote?

Now there are two candidates left in the race, we can decide which candidate is the all important “beer candidate”.

McCain said what?!?

John McCain was quoted today saying “I will veto every single beer”. You read that right. After laughter from reporters and changed shorts of every brewer in America, he corrected himself. After all, his wife is an Anheuser-Busch (A-B) distributor heiress, and a veto of beer might mean many nights on the White House sofa.

McCain owes much to beer. Early in his political career his campaign ran into trouble. His wife’s money helped him survive. In fact Anheuser-Busch's political action committee was among McCain's earliest donors, and A-B gave him so much money the Federal Election Commission ordered him to give some of it back. Kind of ironic for a staunch supporter of campaign finance reform. His campaign eventually paid back the debts, but without A-B’s support he would not be the politician he is today.

Considering his ties to A-B one would assume he is a lock for the beer vote. My concern is Anheuser-Busch is not the friendliest organization to craft breweries. One only has to look as far as Alabama to see how A-B treats craft brewers. A-B, along with the Southern Baptists, is one of the biggest state lobbyists against allowing the sale of beer higher than 6% ABV in Alabama. Since he owes so much to big beer, you have to assume his allegiance is with big beer.

Who ever heard of Yuengling?

That leaves Barack Obama right? Well he’s not the best choice either. Obama stopped in Pennsylvania earlier in the year and had this chat with a local man.

“You know I got a beer down there,” Obama said. “What do they call it? A Yuengling?”

“Yuengling,” a man answered. “Like you didn’t know.”

“Trying a Pennsylvania beer, that’s what I’m talking about,” said Obama. “Is it expensive, though? ... Wanna make sure it’s not some designer beer or something.”

Um, no Barack. Yuengling is a beer in Pennsylvania and it is from the oldest active brewery in America. Older than Anheuser-Busch. This is trivia you should know when campaigning in Pennsylvania. I guess that’s why he’s known as the wine candidate. He later made up for the gaffe with another beer photo op.

Beer isn’t even on the radar for Obama. He toured a few bars only after Clinton showed him up with whiskey shots and beer chasers. I doubt someone who knows nothing about America’s oldest brewery is going to care much about any of the other beers. Just fess up Obama, you’re a wine drinker. It's ok.

Big Beer vs. Don’t Know

So there you have it. You can go with Big Beer, or someone who doesn’t know beer at all. I’m guessing neither candidate has an answer to the hop crisis or the out of control grain prices. The last candidate I can remember who ever supported the little homebrewers of America was the "great" Jimmy Carter. Those days are long gone! To choose a candidate this year, I guess we’ll have to look at other boring criteria. We'll have to resort to looking at energy policies or stances on Iraq. Neither candidate can really be the “beer candidate”.

Which should be the beer candidate? (photos from campaign sites)

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My name is D.J. Spiess I've been homebrewing for many years and I hope I can help you enjoy this hobby as much as I do. If you enjoyed this article, please leave a comment, share it, digg it, or stumble it using the icons to the right or the top of the page.
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