NASHUA , NH – In the hours leading up to the New Hampshire primary, the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) - in conjunction with the New Hampshire Wholesale Beverage Association (NHWBA) - continued its effort to ask voters which presidential candidate they want to sit down and chat with over a cold beer. On Monday night, New Hampshire voters of legal drinking age were asked one question as part of a non-scientific survey: “Which of the presidential candidates would you like to have a beer with in 2008?” The event, which was attended by more than 100 voters, took place at The Peddler’s Daughter in Nashua.

The survey kicked off in Des Moines, Iowa, on the eve of the Iowa caucuses and will continue on-line throughout the campaign season. Voters of legal drinking age can visit www.whodoyouwanttohaveabeerwith.com or www.nbwa.org to choose a candidate with whom they would like to have a beer. On-site voting will continue in South Carolina in conjunction with the primaries in that state.

“With all of the rigors of a campaign – attack ads, phone calls, direct mail – Americans know sometimes it just comes down to who you want to have a beer with,” said NBWA President Craig Purser. “We hope this campaign reminds voters that at the end of the day, while issues are very important, so is conversation, civility and character. Having a beer with someone represents getting to know someone better, and that’s what the campaign season is all about – getting to know these candidates better.”

In addition to being an election year, 2008 marks the 75^th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition and the beginning of effective, state-based alcohol regulation under the 21^st Amendment. Today, Americans enjoy more than 13,000 labels of beer from coast to coast distributed through a state-regulated system.

Beer has long been a part of American society going back to the Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower; they dropped anchor at Plymouth Rock in 1620 because their beer supply was running low. General George Washington’s first order was for every troop to receive a daily ration of beer. American lore has it that Thomas Jefferson wrote the first draft of the Declaration of Independence over a pint in a Philadelphia tavern.