Favorite Beers of Republicans and Democrats

(Image via the National Journal)

Thank you to the National Journal for covering two of my favorite things at once: beer and politics. Last week, the Journal published the above chart showing the beer preferences of Republicans and Democrats, and how likely they are to vote. Brilliant!

You could spend weeks analyzing it, but I’ll just offer a few thoughts:

1. Sam Adams is one of the most popular beers for active Republican voters. I imagine this preference has to do mostly with the beer’s patriot hero namesake, because clearly, if GOP voters realized it was brewed by the Boston Beer Company—based in the much-despised liberal Massachusetts—they might opt for another choice.

2. Republicans are also big fans of Miller Lite and Coors Light, but Democrats drink more Budweiser.

3. Active Democrat voters love gulping down microbrews. (Hey Dems, if you need a recommendation for a great New England beer, check out our beer guide.)

4. Citizens who don’t care about voting have very different preferences. Low-turnout Democrats dig Heineken and Corona, while low turnout Republicans toss back Lone Star and Shiner Bock.

5. All of the terrible and cheap beers, like Natural Light and Busch Light, are consumed by voters with low turnout numbers. In other words: College kids.