Brito visited Capitol Hill on Tuesday and plans to make more rounds Wednesday to convince the likes of Missouri's two U.S. Sens. Christopher "Kit" Bond and Claire McCaskill that the deal is not bad news for their home state. The lawmakers' sentiments are shared by other Missouri lawmakers, including the state's governor. And, at least two Web sites have cropped up to build grassroots opposition to the merger: savebudweiser.com and saveab.com.
Bond, a Republican, and McCaskill, a Democrat, sit on opposite sides of the political aisle, but when it comes to fighting to protect manufacturing jobs and St. Louis' brewing heritage they are drinking from the same bottle. It's not clear that Brito has had much success. According to Reuters, after his meeting with McCaskill Tuesday, she reiterated to reporters that she would "do everything I could to stop this sale from going through." Brito meets with Bond Wednesday.
In reality, Congress has little authority to stop a merger, though lawmakers can hope to scotch a deal by creating enormous political heat on regulators and the companies. McCaskill at least was realistic about lawmakers' chances of upending the merger: "It's very unclear that any of us can do anything at this point." - Bill McConnell
See coverage of Brito's visit to Capitol Hill from Portfolio
See coverage of Brito's visit to Capitol Hill from St. Louis Business Journal
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The head of Belgian brewer InBev SA Carlos Brito is doing his best to prove to lawmakers from the "Show-Me" state that his plans to acquire Anheuser-Busch Cos. won't lead to job cuts or loss of corporate prestige in St. Louis. 
