Washington, DC - This nail-biting presidential race may come down to one determining factor: which candidate do Indiana voters want to have a beer with? The candidates have stumped on economic policy, highlighted their health care plans and fought over foreign policy. So which candidate do drinking-age voters want to sit down with and chat about those hot-button issues over a beer? The National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) has launched an online, non-scientific survey at www.whodoyouwanttohaveabeerwith.com to answer the question, "Which of the presidential candidates would you like to have a beer with in 2008?"

Throughout the primary season, voters of legal drinking age can cast their "ballot" at www.whodoyouwanttohaveabeerwith.com or www.nbwa.org. The site shows in real-time the percentage of votes that each candidate has received, as well as video of interviews with voters in the early primary states about how they selected which candidates they would like to have a brew with.

"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 75th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition and the beginning of effective, state-based alcohol regulation under the 21st Amendment. Today, Americans enjoy more than 13,000 labels of beer from coast to coast distributed through a state-based system of alcohol regulation.

Beer has been part of America since before a president lived in the White House. The Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower reportedly dropped anchor at Plymouth Rock in 1620 because their beer supply was running low. American lore has it that Thomas Jefferson wrote the first draft of the Declaration of Independence over a pint in a Philadelphia tavern.