Admitting to being a heavy drinker in his youth
didn’t exactly hurt George W. Bush’s political career.
It’s about time liberals learned something from the Republicans.
Drinking Liberally, which was launched two years ago
in New York City, bills itself as an “informal, inclusive weekly
Democratic drinking club.” The group, which recently formed a chapter
in Springfield, might be described as one part think tank and one part
support group — and the rest is gin and vermouth.
“I think drinking and politics go together fine,
as long as you aren’t drinking during office hours. George Bush falls
off his bike so often that it makes me wonder,” says 27-year-old Will
Reynolds, a Springfield native and Sangamon County Democrats staffer who
hosts the weekly event.
Reynolds wanted Springfield to have its own DL
delegation (there are more than 80 chapters nationwide) just so that
liberals and Democrats would have someplace to hang out socially.
“Some people might not want to go to a [political] meeting but will
go have a drink with other progressives,” Reynolds says.
Plus, this politically idle year, he maintains,
provides the perfect opportunity for liberals to “get together and
get to know each other on a personal level, as opposed to just getting
together at campaign functions.”
A dozen liquor-thirsty liberals turned out to imbibe
at the inaugural DL meeting at Boone’s Tavern in Springfield —
a bigger crowd than Reynolds expected. The conversation was wide-ranging.
The governor, he says, was a hot topic, but “we didn’t talk
politics all night. About half the time we talked about politics.”
Though no one would blame liberals for wanting to
numb the political pain they’ve suffered of late, Reynolds notes that
not everybody drinks at DL meetings, and he insists that DL isn’t
just an excuse to get wasted.
Rather, he says, “It’s more about meeting
new people in an informal, fun atmosphere than drinking.”
Drinking Liberally in Springfield meets again at 8 p.m. Thursday, June 30, at Boone’s Saloon, 301 W. Edwards St.
This article appears in Jun 30 – Jul 6, 2005.
