GOP Owner complains Obama's Iowa beer tent stop cost him $25,000

[WI_DEM]

Obama’s fair stop Monday evening required shutdown of the popular Bud Tent, the heart of fairgrounds nightlife at the intersection of E. 33rd Street and Grand Avenue. Fairgoers eager to greet the president were ushered inside, screened and scanned by the Secret Service and penned in by yellow caution tape. The entire production required at least two hours, and the president’s sleek black coach bus pulled away from the Bud Tent by 8:30 p.m.


There are “two sides to this story,” said Mike Cunningham II, the third generation owner of the 65-year-old Bud Tent.

On one hand, Cunningham, 39, appreciated the historical significance of Obama’s visit: His great-grandfather, Lloyd Cunningham, was secretary of the fair board from 1942 to 1962 and was on hand to greet then-President Dwight Eisenhower when Ike visited the centennial fair in 1954 with Iowa’s own President Herbert Hoover in tow. (That was the first of four visits by sitting presidents, followed by Gerald Ford in 1975, George W. Bush in 2002 and Obama on Monday.)


On the other hand, the small business owner side of Cunningham fumes that the president “put a damper on what I’m trying to do here.” His Bud Tent was shut down at the most lucrative time of day, with a popular rock cover band, Hairball, about to perform at the Susan B. Knapp Amphitheater next door ­ with legions of thirsty fans.


“I was in a position to make a campaign donation against my will,” said Cunningham, a Republican.

http://www.indystar.com/article/20120815/NEWS01/120815013/Owner-complains-Obama-s-Iowa-beer-tent-stop-cost-him-25-000?odyssey=nav%7Chead

[2pooped2pop]

1. tfb

too fuckin bad

But if he usually makes that much in a few hours, somebody better be checking his tax returns to see how much he reports for his fair days sales.

[Scuba]

7. +1

[onehandle]

2. You couldn't pay me to drink a 'Bud.' nt

[Scuba]

8. +2

[EnviroBat]

15. Selling that rot-gut swill to the mouthbreathers.

Their livers probably appreciated the break. WORST BEER EVAH!

[TheMastersNemesis]

3. I Will Bet He Does Not Need The Money Anyway

[sadbear]

4. Is it smart for a small business to get political?

Of course, I reckon he wouldn't have had a problem if Romney had done the same thing. He said just as much with that asinine statement.

[bullwinkle428]

11. I have a PERFECT example of how something like this SHOULD be handled - the President is

appearing in the East Village of Davenport (Iowa) today, and they interviewed the owner of Lagomarcino's, a candy/ice cream shop that's been around for close to 100 years.

He was required by the Secret Service to close the shop prior to the President's appearance, and said that he totally understood why it had to be done, and actually didn't want to answer the question about who he plans to vote for this November.

[Scuba]

5. What, he thinks he owns the fairgrounds?

[bushisanidiot]

6. What a liar!

MORE people would have been there to see the President of the United States than to see a cover band.

He should be THANKING President Obama for stopping by!

[stjohndoe]

9. It was Budweiser. The President did the potential customers a favor.

[Erose999]

23. The Prez. is a Bud drinker, LOL. He had a Bud Lite at the "Beer summit" IIRC.

[stjohndoe]

33. Maybe Bud sponsored the event.

That would be a great ROI; a couple of beers for all that publicity, lol.

[bullwinkle428]

10. It's ALWAYS these third and fourth-generation owners of businesses that are the

biggest Freepers out there - the ultimate example of being born rolling in the cash of an established, successful business, being handed the reins of said business, and then thinking they're the ultimate "self-made man". I've seen example after example of this on other boards I frequent, and their own myopia is utterly laughable if it weren't so pathetic.

[vinny9698]

12. Poster boy for inheriting wealth yet claiming HE made by hisself THE DONALD

Trump's dad helped him get started and his dad made his money from the WWII vets GI Bill, building them homes. You can see Donald is not speaking up about the "You did not build that yourself." Goes he knows it is very true.

[Javaman]

13. this moron knew full well when the President was going to be there.

he's excuses fall flat.

[Gormy Cuss]

14. It's Chuck Grassley who started the whining.

Snake in the Grassley's tweet is what started this mock controversy. Did Obama just stride up to the beer tent without warning, shuttering the business for a couple of hours without asking the owner? Did the owner really have a problem with the short term revenue drop before Grassley contacted him? Seems to me that the longer term value of touting yet another presidential visit would have surpassed any short term drop in revenue --and that 25K figure is lost revenue, not profit.

[FightForMichigan]

16. Yes, I'm sure that

the rock and roll cover band had drawn more people to the fair that day than the sitting president of the United States.



I bet his revenue in the hours before and after the visit were much stronger because of the presidential visit. And if it were Romney stopping by, we'd never hear him complain at all.

[librechik]

17. he must be doing awfully well if a $25,000 loss only "puts a damper on"

that would bust me flat!

[JHB]

18. A bad storm would have put a damper on what he was doing too...

Both are beyond his control, but he wouldn't be able to argue with God or the atmosphere the way he will inevitably argue with the people in charge of the fairgrounds.

His real beef is with them, if they were not considerate of the fact that presidential security requirements would cut into business for their tent vendors.

I suspect that number is one he's tossing out to get a rebate on his tent fees.

[global1]

19. If It Were Me The Next Day I Would Have Put Pictures Up Of The President's Visit Along With....

signs saying have a beer where President Obama had a beer. I think there are a lot of people that would be thrilled to do that.

Even with out doing that - this guy will probably do better in the remaining days of the fair - then he would have if the President didn't stop there.

[HopeHoops]

20. Um, right. Like you can make 25 grand off of cheap beer in a couple of hours?

[PADemD]

21. Did he complain this much when George W. Bush visited in 2002?

[JoePhilly]

27. It was different when the other President's visited ... wink wink.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

22. Well, Cunningham, you're so ungrateful for the 18 different small business tax breaks you got

under this president, perhaps you ought to give that money back to the taxpayers and shut the fuck up!!!

[reflection]

24. "You didn't swill that"

should be Obama's answer to him.

[Initech]

25. At least Obama drinks beer!

Mitt Romney is the candidate you don't want to have a beer with - because - oh yeah - beer is forbidden by him religion.

[gkhouston]

26. And if the President had given the beer tent a miss, this guy would bitch about that, too. n/t

[datasuspect]

28. boo fucking hoo

too bad, so sad.

tell it to the marines pinko

[Tom Ripley]

29. Fuck that swillmonger

[KurtNYC]

30. so vote for the Prohibition guy and see how that works for ya.

[CabCurious]

31. poorly run businesses usually go out of business (nt)

[Bluenorthwest]

32. So he's making 12.5K an HOUR selling crappy beer and he has complaints about anything?

Wow. What an asshole.