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- Budweiser Pays for Davis and Bustamante!
Monday, Oct. 6, 2003
Budweiser Pays for Davis and Bustamante
Anheuser-Busch is shilling for California's corruption-plagued Democrat establishment, according to Slate.
After launching into a lengthy attack on Arnold Schwarzenegger, Slate columnist Mickey Kaus today wrote that Sunday night he got a "strange" phone call taped by sore loserman Al Gore urging people to vote against the recall and (wishy-washy as ever) for Cruz Bustamante just in case those awful "right-wing Republicans" oust the greedy guv.
At the end of the message, according to Kaus, a woman's voice says: "Paid for by Progressive Democrats and Independents against the recall. Major funding by Anheuser-Busch."
He writes:
What's America's largest brewer doing going to bat for Gray Davis and Cruz Bustamante? Is that legal? Maybe so perhaps the cost is somehow apportioned between the "recall" message and the "Bustamante" message in a way that gets around whatever campaign limits apply. But is it smart? Anheuser-Busch has put its name and it's [sic] precious brands, nurtured at a cost of billions of dollars, behind two of the most unpopular politicians in the nation's largest state. How does that make business sense? Aren't opponents of Davis and Bustamante probably a majority of the population going to think twice about ordering up a Bud? Even if they're only 40 percent of the population, does Anheuser-Busch want to alienate 40 percent of the market? And what about proud "right-wing Republicans"? Don't they drink beer?
Possible explanation #1: Maybe Anheuser-Busch executives don't know their company's name is being used in the phone calls. But shouldn't they?
Possible Explanation #2: Or maybe they figure that in heavily Democratic Venice, where I live, most recipients of the call will think more highly of them because of the Gore/Democrat association. (Perhaps they're sponsoring similar phone messages from Tom Selleck targeted at Republicans in Simi Valley.) But that sort of stealth-targeting strategy would depend on nobody writing a story revealing Anheuser-Busch's actions to a larger audience.
Early this afternoon we called Anheuser-Busch to ask for an explanation. A Paula Reppell said someone would respond by our 4 p.m. deadline. We're still waiting.
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