Spirited liberals tap a Democratic party

The Red Lion Pub on Division Street wasn’t quite prepared to host a gaggle of spirited progressives last week. At the end of a festive three-hour gathering of Spokane’s new Drinking Liberally group, the frazzled-but-friendly server said, “If we knew there were going to be so many of you, we would have added staff.”

But who in their right mind would expect nearly 20 local Democrats to show up for nothing more than conversation and cold beers on a summer Wednesday evening? As one participant joked, “We can’t all fit into a phone booth anymore.”

It may not represent a progressive renaissance in conservative Eastern Washington. But the weekly event – which kicks off every Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. – provides local liberals a welcome opportunity for fun and fellowship.

Spokane is the 87th U.S. city with a Drinking Liberally chapter, and only the 15th out West. Martha Wilson, charming vice president of the Spokane County Young Democrats, started the local club after hearing what a blast the Seattle-area gatherings have been. (The Emerald City already boasts two chapters, naturally. Other Washington groups meet in Pullman and Bellingham.)

This boozy movement poured forth two years ago in New York City, according to drinkingliberally.org. The idea is that “Bars are democratic spaces – you talk to strangers, you share booths, you feel the bond of common ground. Bring democratic discourse to your local democratic space – build Democracy one drink at a time.” The site emphasizes that participants needn’t be policy wonks.

Still, I dropped in on the Spokane group’s third go-round expecting to find a handful of earnest young activists strategizing over pints of microbrew. Instead, a wide range of Democrats – ranging from hip twentysomethings to the sage middle-aged – passed pitchers up and down a long table in the pub’s back room as they swapped stories and engaged in some informal networking.

A regional organizer for the National Organization for Women, visiting from Seattle, stopped by to make new connections. Nearby, a group of young men and women tipped back a few with a veteran activist and discussed what it’s like to be gay in Spokane these days.

Instead of bringing in speakers or providing group discussion topics, this Drinking Liberally group simply lets its hair down. One guy talked about how everyone he meets around Spokane assumes he’s a Republican. Others nodded in sympathy, and looked around the table with a sense of relief. For once, they didn’t feel like they were in enemy territory.

During a break in conversation, I asked Wilson if the folks she’d been huddling with had managed to fix Social Security.

“That’s not the point!” she chided with a laugh.

But then the NOW representative brought up a plan to make Social Security a big issue on college campuses this fall. The discussion soon touched on the notion that dozens of universities holding mock impeachment trials might force the national media to examine the president’s possible Iraq war deceptions more seriously.

As the beer flowed, the Jim West scandal inevitably popped up like an insistent IM buddy. Wilson expressed a bit of consternation that local Democrats haven’t jumped into the mayoral recall fray more forcefully. But she said she expects the party to pitch in if the effort gets to the signature-gathering stage.

Then web developer Jay Cousins piped up, “Has anybody seen a ‘Don’t blame me, I voted for Tom Grant’ button yet?”

It was probably just the beer talking.