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BY CHRISTINA HARTMAN
Politics and beer go way back.
George Washington is said to have brewed it. And when he was president, James Madison wanted
to appoint a Secretary of Beer.
Today, beer and politics go hand in hand especially when it comes to the debates:
CNBC: “We always hope the candidates say certainly new in these debates but if they
say the same old same old, the only solution is a drinking game.”
WPMI: “Take a drink if President Obama says ‘Let me be clear’ and if Mitt Romney mentions
Ronald Reagan."
But it’s not just during debates that cocktails meet campaigns.
Earlier this year when the online world caught wind that the White House brews its own beer,
there was so much clamoring for the recipe, a petition requesting its release got more
than 12,000 signatures.
And the White House eventually obliged, releasing the recipe and this video showing how it’s
done.
“Welcome to the White House beer room. This is the honey porter. We’re monitoring temperature.”
And let’s not forget the White House beer summit of 2009, which brought together Harvard
Professor Henry Louis Gates and Sergeant James Crowley, a police officer who mistakenly arrested
Gates outside his Cambridge home.
When it comes to elections, the question of “Which candidate would you rather have a
beer with?” is a mainstay after George Bush bested John Kerry when a 2004 Zogby/Williams
poll found 57 percent of voters at the time would rather have a beer with Bush.
Moral of the story: A good brew is one of the few things that can bring together all
political sides. As for Thursday night’s debate between Vice President Joe Biden and
Romney running mate Paul Ryan, let the drinking begin:
Check out National Journal’s Veep Debate drinking game.
Good luck. And always make sure to designate a moderator.