Barack's Brew

In this election year, with the country facing a bad economy, natural disasters, high unemployment, and the threat of Iran going nuclear, President Obama is making headlines by releasing by an important document ...
... the White House beer recipe.

Beer recipe: yes. Student records: no.

So is Obama aiming for the small-but-critical microbrewer vote? Is this just a publicity stunt? I think the Obama campaign is giving the press a lighthearted story that subtly helps the President's image.

In the last presidential election, Newsweek compared the choice to beer and arugula, with beer representing McCain/Palin and Obama representing arugula. The President has struggled to come across as a "regular guy," even when his political star was on the rise. He has even seemed foreign to many people (the Birtherism movement being the extreme manifestation of this view). Obama sees his chance to be seen as the "beer candidate" this time around.

The Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, is an observant Mormon who does not drink alcohol. He won't be releasing a beer recipe if he becomes President. Obama knows that few people will actually try to make the White House beer, but publicizing the recipe makes him seem to voters like a guy they could sit and have a beer with, and what sounds more all-American than that?

9/4 Update: Obama gave a free case of White House ale to firefighters in Norfolk. Maybe he can be a beer pitchman if this reelection thing doesn't work out.