Budweiser: The flag pin of beers?

Presidential candidate Barack Obama found himself in the midst of the increasingly politicized Anheuser-Busch takeover battle on Monday, become the latest politician to weigh in against InBev’s $46.3 billion bid during a news conference in the Budweiser brewer’s home town of St. Louis, Missouri.

“I do think it would be a shame if Bud is foreign-owned,” Obama said. “I think we should be able to find an American company that is interested in purchasing Anheuser Busch if in fact Anheuser Busch feels that it’s necessary to sell.”

Obama has plenty of company in his defense of what is seen as that most American of beers — a perception cemented by nearly half a billion dollars in annual ad spending. Missouri’s Gov. Matt Blunt and Sen. Claire McCaskill have also come out against the deal, although it’s not clear they’re in a position to stop it.

In another sign of how ugly the takeover battle could get, Anheuser Busch played the Cuba card, today saying that InBev, through a subsidiary, has a partnership with that country’s government to produce and sell products there.