SOBRIETY TEST

What Are The Long-Term Effects Of Beer, Blogging, And Progressive Politics

It was Tuesday night and lefty drug-reform warrior Roger Goodman's
lecture on creating a regulated drug market in Seattle was blowing me
away. (Goodman, an advocate for legalizing drugs, is director of the
King County Bar Association's Drug Policy Project.)

"In a conservative estimate, 50 percent of cases in our courts are
drug related," Goodman said, "and 70 percent of our general funds go
to criminal justice--75 percent in King County. Imagine what we could
accomplish if we could reallocate those funds?"

The beer was flowing and the crowd size got out of hand, so Goodman
had to wrap up. I was disappointed to see the lecture end, and told
the event organizer, Nicholas Beaudrot, so.

Beaudrot is the soft-spoken young man, who, since January 2005, heads
up Drinking Liberally, a weekly event where liberals gather to drink
and socialize and occasionally get an earful from smart people like Goodman.

As Goodman enraptured his audience, I had to admit that I was
impressed with how seriously Drinking Liberally took their
motto­"promoting democracy one pint at a time." There were pints,
pitchers, burgers, and boisterous conversation crowding the table.
After a time, Goodman just couldn't compete.

Talk at DL focuses on the wet dreams of liberal cranks. It's an arena
for Democrats to share their ambitions with a receptive audience.
Drink beer. Hone their arguments. Drink beer. Receive criticism from
their peers. Drink beer.

My involvement in local politics petered out after I migrated from
Idaho to Washington, so there was no better introduction to Seattle
politics than this drinkfest with a pack of enthusiastic political geeks.

Each Tuesday at 8:00 p.m., a crowd of roughly 20 gathers at Montlake
Ale House northeast of Capitol Hill, a cozy pub with wooden tables
that can easily be stacked to make a "large, makeshift Norwegian
banquet table" as the crowd filters in. Drinking Liberally has 127
chapters nationwide, and was founded in 2003 by two fed up New
Yorkers, Justin Krebs and Matthew O'Neill. During the Republican
National Convention in 2004, Drinking Liberally was introduced to the
blogging community by Atrios and Daily Kos, and chapters began
popping up all over the country. Seattle's chapter began toasting
roughly 18 months ago.

"The point is to get people talking about politics in a social
setting," Beaudrot explains. "Most of these guys are bloggers, and
it's really great to have them rip themselves from their screens, if
only once a week. It's as much a social event as it is an 'issues' event."

Seattle DL has a core group of about 15. Those I met at DL who didn't
have blogs had campaign titles. I have neither.

Friendly regulars like Darryl Holman (a laid-back, middle-aged man
www.hominidviews.com says Drinking Liberally holds great promise to
attract crowds and fire them up about local politics. Everyone is eager
to invite their friends. But lack of drive to get the word out has kept this
event practically closed to the public for 18 months.

Drinking Liberally, like blogging, suffers from an insularity
problem. Good blogs become reputable by linking and referencing each
other or by word of mouth, while thousands of others passively wait
for exposure. Similarly, Drinking Liberally has a cache of
provocative liberals ready to stimulate those lucky enough to stumble
in. The six or seven drifters like myself who weren't regulars were
mostly friends of bloggers.

Women were also scarce. "Bring your lady friends!" men implored me.
Out of the 25 or so liberal revelers, there were only two other women
present, and one was under 10.

Without some new blood, DL could be dismissed as a good-old-boys club
stuffed with bloggers and politicos who rehash what they've read and
posted throughout the week.

Which is true, but not necessarily a bad thing. A handful of smart
men with blogs and campaign connections equals incredible power over
local politicians­which is why King County Executive Ron Sims,
Representative Ed Murray, and Congressman Jim McDermott have all made
time for a meet-and-greet with the group. But with a little
advertising, DL could easily become a preferred conduit for liberal
Seattleites to size up politicians.

Indeed, on my first night with DL, Darcy Burner, a 2006 Democratic
hopeful for the 8th Congressional District, stopped by to cheerfully
announce, "I need buzz." Several men grinned and wryly saluted her
with their beers.

"Blogs get buzz in the media," Beaudrot said. "As a group, they carry
weight. That's one of the reasons we can get local politicians here
to talk and debate."

Bloggers have become the grassroots leaders of the internet world;
mainstream media outlets often comb top blogs for stories. (Local
blogger David Goldstein, a regular at DL, originally broke the
national story about FEMA director Michael Brown's former relations
with Arabian horses. His blog gets around 2,000 hits a day, almost
all from within the state of Washington.)

Drinking Liberally is now challenged with turning the inherently
insular world of blogs into the practical political-organizing world.
They've taken the first step: barrooms and beer. Now they need to
attract a wider audience.

"We need to make politics visible and available to people who don't
have desk jobs, and who don't surf our blogs all day long," one
blogger told me.

And attracting a weekly crowd of 20 to chat politics is certainly
nothing to blush at. I approached Burner, who was talking to
Goldstein, and introductions were made. I didn't get a chance to
grill her on her tactics for spanking Republican incumbent
Congressman Dave Reichert because my name wasn't even out of my mouth
before she was recruiting me for her campaign.

"You should job shadow me!" Burner decided. "See what a day in my
life is like! I'd put you to work."

She produced a business card and began scribbling on it. "Contact me
anytime," she continued. "This has my e-mail address, website, work
phone, and cell phone numbers. I could use the extra labor!"

This struck me as the kind of thing that should happen more often at
DL. Burner had me pledging to both work and vote for her in five
minutes flat. If Burner had more marks like me getting revved up by
the beer and idealism, she could have left the place with her phone
banking covered for a month. And, it seems like it's the kind of
thing that can happen more often. Representative Jay Inslee showed up
at DL the following week.

Every Tudesday at 8pm. 2307 24th Ave E. Just south of the Montlake
Bridge (206) 726-5968