Capitol Alert: Cast your vote for the best Jerry Brown butterbeer caption

While a tall glass of butterbeer may not make Gov. Jerry Brown's budget woes disappear, the sight of the governor trying the treat conjured up many jokes in our readers' minds.

Lines referencing the 73-year-old governor's long political career and prediction for a 2012 ballot war were among the dozens of entries we received for our latest Capitol Alert Caption Contest.

For those too busy searching for the golden snitch to see last week's call for submissions, we asked readers to come up with a caption of this picture of the Democratic governor sipping a mug of butterbeer at a press conference announcing plans to build a Wizarding World of Harry Potter park in Los Angeles.

We've picked 10 submissions that had the power to make us laugh, but we'll leave it to you, fellow muggles, to choose the caption worthy of Capitol Alert's equivalent of the House Cup. In addition to the bragging rights, the winner takes home a $25 gift card to a local coffee shop.

Send your vote to capitolalertcontests@gmail.com by 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, December 15. Please vote once and pick only one caption. Feel free to make the case for your favorite line in the comments forum below.

Here are the finalist entries"

1.) "I remember when we used Owls for interoffice memos."

2.) "Beerum omnium contra omnes" (Loosely translated: beer of all against all).

3.) "Release the hounds, Smithers"

4.) "I need an official taster. Where's Gavin?"

5.) "We'll drink beer, let them eat cake!"

6.) "I don't know what you guys think, but I think this smells a lot better than my budget!"

7.) "A toast to the Debt Eaters!"

8.) "Why is this Christmas beer from CCPOA warm and taste funny?"

9.) "Wow, this tastes good enough to tax!"

10.) "Was this Union Made?"

You can check out the original post announcing the contest at this link. Remember, send just one vote to capitolalertcontests@gmail.com. Good luck to all the finalists!

PHOTO CREDIT: From left, Ron Meyer, President and COO of Universal Studios, Gov. Jerry Brown, and Barry Meyer, Chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. make a butterbeer toast as Universal Parks & Resorts as they announce that the Harry Potter attraction is coming to Universal Studios Hollywood in Universal City, Calif., Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011. The attraction opened in Orlando, Fla. last summer. (AP Photo/Jason Redmond)