beer

Dem Candidate Hickenlooper's Ad Puns On Brewer Background

John Hickenlooper is Denver’s former mayor and Colorado’s former governor, and one of the many lesser-known Democratic candidates for president.

That changed a little bit Tuesday night. Hickenlooper, who thinks the left wing of the Democrat Party is promoting ideas that are too extreme for most Americans, got into a testy exchange with Sen. Bernie Sanders over Medicare for all during a CNN debate among 10 of the Democratic hopefuls.

In his hometown and state, Hickenlooper has the reputation of being a maverick and a smart businessman who was a pioneer in the craft beer industry.

His first presidential ads were more or less like most presidential candidates’ commercials. But a newer one uses his brewer’s background to score some points — and some laughs.  

In a commercial posted on YouTube on July 22 titled, “Brewers And Beer Lovers For Hickenlooper” he brags, “Fact is, I’m the only presidential candidate with 16 years of exceptional success working with Republicans and Democrats -- and ale and lager yeasts.”  

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Hickelnlooper was the founder of Wynnkoop Brewing Co. in 1988. The brewpub helped revitalize a crummy Skid Row neighborhood that today is a Denver showplace, and the city and state are now famous for their craft brews.  (Hickenlooper and co-founders sold the place about a decade ago.)

The ad continues with a series of Hickenlooper supporters adding their own pun-filled endorsements, ending with one fellow saying, “We need a president whose only ties to Moscow are Imperial Russian Stouts.”  

For the record, President Obama seems to be the first president who actually brewed his own beer, a porter and an ale, while in the White House. But George Washington made his own beer and whiskey at his home in Mount Vernon.

Hickenlooper asks supporters to make a $5 contribution with a screen graphic pointing out that’s “The cost of 1 glass of beer.”

Hickenlooper has criticized Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren for “demonizing”  big business, arguing their tough rhetoric goes too far. On Tuesday night, he told CNN’s Jake Tapper that with that kind of talk, "You might as well FedEx the election to Donald Trump."

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