New York Sen. Charles E. Schumer has done his darned best to earn the title of “buzzkill“: He led the crackdown on Four Loko caffeine-laced malt beverages, declared war on the powdered liquor product Palcohol, and — this week — drove the summer boozy slushy fad called Phrosties to extinction. But meanwhile, he’s also received significant financial support from the more established members of the alcohol industry.

Over the years, Schumer, a Democrat, has received more than $360,000 from PACs and individuals working in the beer, wine and liquor trades, making him the industry’s twelfth favorite member of Congress, on par with several congressional leaders and presidential candidates.

Close to half of that money poured into Schumer’s campaign account during his last re-election bid in 2010. During that cycle, the beer, wine and liquor industry gave him a handsome $155,000. Only Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) — who now represents California’s 5th Congressional District, filled with Napa Valley wineries — received more. And Schumer pulled in another $68,000 from registered lobbyists whose clients included wine, beer and liquor producers and wholesalers.

That same year the senator drew the spotlight for another campaign: He fought to ban Four Loko when a rash of college students ended up in the hospital after binge-drinking the zany-colored concoction. Schumer called on the New York State Liquor Authority to act and pressured the federal Food and Drug Administration to take its own prohibition measures. Sure enough, the FDA announced in November 2010 that caffeine in alcoholic drinks was unsafe, effectively nixing the recipe for Four Loko and similar drinks.

The two alcohol companies whose lobbyists gave the most to Schumer in 2010 probably didn’t mind his Four Loko crusade: SABMiller and Anheuser-Busch InBev had already bowed out of the caffeine-and-alcohol beverage trade in 2008. After several attorney generals accused them of marketing similar concoctions to underage youth, both corporations removed all caffeine from drinks called Sparks (which were promoted through a website designed “like it was created by a college freshman,” according to the AGs), Bud Extra and Tilt.

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Two years later, with Schumer on the warpath over Four Loko and similar drinks, the two companies hired a small army of lobbyists, who contributed to his campaign from their own pocket. Thirteen lobbyists for Anheuser-Busch InBev gave Schumer a total $18,000 and a team of five Elmendorf Ryan lobbyists hired by SABMiller together donated $10,700.

Four Loko producer Phusion Projects also tried to make its case. In 2010, for the first and last time, the company hired lobbyists, spending $100,000 in an effort to reverse the course of caffeinated alcohol prohibition. One of them, James C. Free of the Smith-Free Group, which has a long list of clients, gave $2,000 to Schumer.

Phusion was unsuccessful; the FDA sent warning letters to four makers of caffeinated alcoholic malt beverages, and Four Loko changed its formula.

No telling what gimmicky alcohol product is next on the horizon. But Schumer’s efforts to stem the tide don’t seem to have cost him much support in the beer, wine and spirits business. He may be less popular among teenagers, but then, most of them don’t vote — nor are they a big slice of his donor base.

Follow Lalita on Twitter at @lalitaclozel



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