Is Bush better for beer drinkers?

 A Sept. 8 press release posted on the company's Web site points to the opposite conclusion. It is headlined: "Anheuser-Busch Expects 11 Percent Earnings Per Share Growth in 2004." The company, according to Standard and Poor's, had Earnings Per Share (EPS) of $1.69 in 2000, President Clinton's last year. This year, its EPS is estimated to hit $2.77 -- a 64 percent jump during Bush's first term.

 Why did the company's earnings grow so much when, according to the ad signed by Busch IV and other pro-Democrat big business leaders, Bush's "disastrous foreign policy has cost us partners . . . in the world marketplace"? In its press release, Anheuser-Busch cites its expansion in the world marketplace as one reason.

 The company quotes its chief financial officer, W. Randolph Baker. "Our international beer segment is making a significant contribution to Anheuser-Busch's earnings growth," says Baker, "and we are strategically well positioned for long-term growth with our expanded position in China and our 50 percent ownership of (the Mexican beer company) Modelo."

 Anheuser-Busch has owned its own brewery in China since 1995. But, in the Bush years, it has expanded its Chinese operations by purchasing stakes in Chinese beer companies. "In 2002, Anheuser-Busch formed a strategic alliance with Tsingtao, the leading brewer in China with a 13 percent share. Anheuser-Busch will ultimately gain a 27 percent ownership interest in Tsingtao," said the press release. "In recent months, Anheuser-Busch has acquired ownership of Harbin Brewery Group, China's fourth largest brewer with a 5 percent share in the Chinese beer market."

 Budweiser, it turns out, is becoming a Chinese company as well as an American one. This is reflected in its Olympic sponsorships: It backs both the U.S. and Chinese teams.

 There is a similar mirror in domestic politics: Anheuser-Busch Chairman August Busch III (Busch IV's father), the Associated Press reports, is a "Ranger" who has raised at least $200,000 for President Bush's campaign. Nonetheless, campaign finance data on the Web site of the Center for Responsive Politics indicates that Busch III gave John Kerry $2,000 on April 6, 2004 (not to mention the $2,000 he gave to Bush on Aug. 13, 2003). Busch IV, meanwhile, gave $2,000 to Bush on Aug. 1, 2003, and $2,000 to Kerry on May 26, 2004.

 This points to a cultural divide between international beer makers and their domestic customers: American beer drinkers, I am certain, will support only one presidential candidate.