In 2003, at Rudy's Bar & Grill in New York City, Justin Krebs and Matthew O'Neill founded "Drinking Liberally". The organization celebrated it's 5th birthday this year, and now, under the umbrella of the broader "Living Liberally"network, has chapters in all 50 states.
“Debating is more fun in person. Recruiting volunteers for a campaign is easier in person. Flirting is better in person. This should all be part of our movement, so it's all part of Drinking Liberally”
–Mathew O'Neill
A year ago, I attended my first drinking liberally event. It was billed as the first caucus of the 2008 presidential primary, and took place a night or two before the Iowa primary at the Montlake Ale House in Seattle, where the Seattle Drinking Liberally chapter meets every Tuesday night.
It was a mock caucus emceed by David Goldstein (Goldy), who is a Seattle liberal blogger (HA Seattle) and occasional Huffington Post contributor. (Here's a clip of David wishing Bill O-Reilly a happy war on Christmas recently).
A couple of significant things came out of that night. First, it became the reason that I started participating in Daily Kos. I noticed some people murmuring and chatting about this person there that they referred to as "muck-joan", or "emcee joan". I was a bit confused by the name. I thought Goldy was the emcee, and what was a "muck-joan"? It was clear she was a person most of them knew of, and that she was held in extremely high regard. Then I heard her referred to as a "front-pager" on Kos, and I sort of figured out the deal. After I got home that night, I went to dKos and started reading some of her stuff, and I was hooked.
So, you can blame Joan McCarter for the fact that I hang out here, wasting valuable column space with asinine comments and diaries.
mcjoan liveblogging at the Montlake Ale House
Not long after that event, I was sitting at my kitchen table with some of my fellow 41st District Democrats, brainstorming ways to improve the Democratic vote in my hometown, especially for Darcy Burner, who didn't fare too well in my area in 2006. One thing I suggested, was that I could start a Drinking Liberally chapter to try to get more progressives actively involved in the local races.
Everyone thought that was a fine idea, so I started a new chapter. We meet the first Monday of each month at the Mustard Seed Grill & Pub in the Newport Hills neighborhood in South Bellevue.
Tomorrow is first Monday, and we have a very special guest attending, the Honorable Dwight Pelz, Chair of the Washington State Democratic party. Topics will include the NY & Illinois Senate appointments, the inauguration of Barack Obama (and Rick Warren, of course), the economy, the I/P conflict... all the same stuff we debate here, but you can have a conversation in real time, in person, while quaffing a good northwest IPA.
So, you Seattle area Kossacks, why not get out of the house and stop in tomorrow night and hang out with the top Democratic Party official in the State? Newport Hills is only a couple of miles from the I-90/405 interchange, about 15 minutes from downtown Seattle. 7:00 on. The burgers are great.
Also, consider stopping by the DL at the Montlake Ale House on a Tuesday night. They meet weekly starting at 8:00 PM (many come earlier for dinner). Goldy is there almost every week, as are a number of other bloggers, and you might even run into mcjoan there as well.
Hope to see you at the Mustard Seed tomorrow.
Cheers!
-Sarge