Drinking Liberally Shot of Truth: Debates & Drinks

by: Living Liberally

Wed Jul 25, 2007 at 12:04

Yesterday, Chris Bowers admitted he hadn't sat through an entire Presidential debate this cycle...until Monday's YouTube-sponsored event.

What changed this time? I watched it with a couple of beers, a few friends who do not work full-time in politics but who provided lots of running commentary, and at least some amusing YouTube questions.

Booze + buddies + banter = an entertaining evening = political engagement.

This isn't a new discovery.  The Boston Tea Party was planned in a tavern after a night of a little too much Sam Adams (the man, not the beer, but you get the point). Drinking Liberally and other organizations frequently use the social draw of a night out to build real political communities.

Are a couple drinks and some funny YouTube questions simply gimmicks?  The Daily Show playfully suggested as much last night when they lampooned a Drinking Liberally Debate Watch Party.

Of course, Monday's event wasn't the first attempt to try to liven up political discourse.  Our friends at the Oregon Bus Project have demonstrated that debate night can be a delight with their very own "Candidates Gone Wild."

Forget tilted stump speeches and baby-kissing: At CGW, candidates must run the gauntlet to show potential constituents they're not just another bad haircut with a sound tax policy. It's a night of improbably entertaining civics.

Equal parts talk show, talent show and reality show, "Candidates Gone Wild" has packed houses several election cycles in a row, bringing new audience members -- ahem, voters -- in contact with the candidates in a new light.

While this project was born of the uncanny instincts of Bus Project driver Jefferson Smith and a partnership with the local Willamette Week, the beauty of it is that it can be repeated anywhere.  Most mid-sized cities have an alternative weekly that would co-host such an event, adding credibility and promotional firepower.  Most candidates are desperate to break out of the pack (and to do something besides buy television ads).  And most communities are filled with people who have tuned out to packaged commercials and canned phrases...but aren't that hard to pull back into politics.

Yes, you could host your own.  It's easier than getting CNN to ask your question for you.