Weekend 3-Way: Ale to the Chief

It’s not officially the weekend yet -- it’s early Friday evening, and it turns out tonight is going to be the first 2008 Presidential Debate. And I, like many Americans, plan to watch it. However, I’ll be chaperoning “movie night” for the 7-year-and-younger set, so it might be tough to follow. But honestly, it might be tough to follow anyway – these debates can be painful to watch.

To ease the pain, you might opt to self medicate. (I mean it is Friday night).

Maybe you’ll opt to play some sort of Presidential Debate Drinking Game.

.

Maybe you'll take a sip of your drink of choice every time:

--John McCain refers to himself as a "maverick."
--Barack Obama rolls his eyes when John McCain refers to himself as a "maverick."
--One of the candidates says "I disagree."
--Anyone says "pulling out" when referring to Iraq.

Or, if you’re a more serious drinker, you maybe you’ll:
--Pound a Red Bull and vodka every time McCain mentions "the surge."
--Drink a Car Bomb every time they bring up Iraq.
--Finish your drink and pour another every time someone says "bailout."
--Switch seats and drink the other person's drink every time Obama says “change.”
--Take a sip of your dirty martini every time McCain tries to associate Obama with an unsavory character.
--Take a shot of tequila when either candidate mentions "immigration" or "border security."

So here it is, what did you drink (or not, for you more serious folks) during the debate last night?


Beth:
Argh, it was exactly like I expected, I did not even see the debate, I was half way watching "Shark Boy and Lava Girl" while filling popcorn bowls and delivering waters. However, I'm confident that I can watch the debate online. When I do so, I plan to have a stiff drink in hand. I'll keep you posted!


Jacquie:
I love those suggestions Beth, I really do. In fact, we talked about them all night while we were out not watching the debate! I nearly resorted to fisticuffs with that Irish Bastard about what time the debate was being broadcast. Who was right? Hey, look at that pretty birdie outside!

What? Oh, nevermind. So my drink of choice during debate viewing will probably be coffee and water. I'm going to the gym right now to sweat out some of what I was drinking while my Barack was debating. It's hard to focus on what he's saying, because my pupils become heart shaped and pixie dust shoots out of them whenever he speaks. Here's my drinkie poo:




















Thank God I had the presence of mind to photograph this beauty - it was called "The Day Spa", from the mojito menu. Cucumber and mint were involved. And vodka. Check out that supercool ice surface it's sitting on - that bad boy runs right around the bar! Brilliant. And I should have moved the basket so as not to distract from the beauty of that drink, but the Cubanos? Beautiful in their own right.


Ellie:
The story of what I drank during the debate starts much earlier in the day -- I took the bus to the Tavern because it was pouring down rain in the morning. Incredibly, I'd been able to ride my bike for every other shift all summer. So when I finished at around 3, I sat down to my lunch of a bowl of Rhode Island Clam Chowder and a 1/2 tuna melt (with tomato and swiss on rye). . . and a Guinness. I then proceeded to have lots of Guinnesses in the hours I sat on the barstool, reading the New York Times, doing the puzzle, greeting the happy hour peeps, including Mistah, who arrived around 6:30. I switched to Chardonnay then -- how much Guinness can one person drink? Later Bill and I decided to splurge and get Indian take-out -- Mistah got a paycheck yesterday, afterall -- which we ate right at the bar. And there I still sat, through all the pain of the debate, until it was over, at 10:30 p.m.

The cool thing was the Tavern was full of people -- every seat and barstool was taken -- and everyone was completely focused on the debate on the tube.

And despite what I thought was a less-than-stellar performance by my man Obama, and too many missed opportunities on his part, I firmly and vehemently say: