It's going to be difficult for a large segment of McCain's base to look the other way concerning his family's alcohol fortune and lobbying for distribution of sweet-tasting beer concoctions aimed at the youth markets.

"You can't run a beer company out of the White House," said Samuel L. Popkin, a political science professor at UC San Diego. "You can't run any company from the White House. McCain is leaving a live hand grenade on the table, a major embarrassment."