Is This Bud Really for You, Mr. President?
Sean Hannity’s efforts to have a beer with Obama seem to be gaining traction. An audience member in the President’s town hall style meeting last night asked about it, and Mr. Obama said it was the first he’d heard of it.
Hannity famously managed to get Ted Kennedy on the phone during his radio program back in 2003. After trying and failing to get Senator Kennedy on the program through traditional means, he talked Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison in putting Sen. Kennedy on her cell phone after an interview with her while she was in the Capitol, persuading her by giving money to her favorite charity. Here’s a transcript of that conversation.
Now, the efforts for Hannity to “have a beer” with the President seem to be picking up steam. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs on Fox News’ Fox and Friends this morning seemed to indicate the President would indeed have a beer with Mr. Hannity.
However, when asked by FNC’s Steve Doocy what type of beer the two might imbibe, Gibbs was quick to assert Obama’s favorite would surely be domestic, probably Budweiser.
Alas, Budweiser is no longer domestically controlled! InBev, the giant Belgium-based conglomerate, now controls Bud’s corporate parent, Anheuser-Busch. For that matter, Miller, the other giant historically American brewer, is controlled by London-based SABMiller. (BTW, here’s a great piece from BusinessWeek on other American brands now in foreign hands).
So, what brewers are still domestically controlled? Well, for starters three big ones jumped to mind: Samuel Adams, Shiner, and High Falls Brewery. If the President is going to be concerned about drinking truly domestic beer, he and Mr. Hannity should choose a bottle or two from one of the above brands, or one of the many other domestically controlled brands. But if domestic control doesn’t matter, then this Bud’s for you, Mr. President.
