"This Bud's Not For You"

If there's one thing that should bring Democrats and Republicans together in this election year it's beer.

Missouri's two senators, Democrat Claire McCaskill and Republican Christopher Bond, are hoping to block a proposed acquisition of brewing giant Anheuser Busch by Belgian beer magnate In-Bev.

Bond and McCaskill met in the past two days with In-Bev CEO Carlos Brito, and both senators seem to be singing from the same Budweiser marketing manual.

McCaskill, in her meeting Tuesday, offered the Belgian brew company executives a choice of Budweiser, Bud Light or Budweiser Select, all of which were chilling in her Senate office refrigerator. McCaskill, who says she's trying to save Missouri jobs as well as an American institution, downed her Bud Light by the end of the meeting.

Bond ended his meeting with Brito today by reading straight from the Bud label: "My Missouri constituents say, this Bud’s not for you."

Bond says he'll encourage a full range of federal review of the proposed acquisition of Anheuser Busch, including an investigation using the "Hart-Scott-Rodino Act to ensure fair market competition." The Missouri senators also want the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to study the deal.

Anheuser Busch is one of the last major American breweries not owned or affiliated with a foreign company. Miller beer is now associated with a South African firm and called SABMiller, and Coors merged with Molson, a Canadian firm, three years ago.

The senators may have the backing of their beer drinking St. Louis constituents and Anheuser Busch employees, but they may have a tougher sell with Wall Street in blocking this acquisition _ In Bev is offering a 35 percent premium to Anheuser Busch shareholders for the acquisition.