Turning the Presidential Debates into Nights on the Town

As Michael noted yesterday, it can be frustrating just how much of our national discourse still, even after the enormous demonstrable progress in recent years, operates under the constraints of the myth of widespread civic disengagement and apathy among young voters. Like many readers of this site, I get tired hearing these kinds of myths repeated, along with the kind of concern they engender, in the whispered, just-between-you-and-me fears of older relatives.

Which makes me all the more glad to have a visceral sign of young voter interest to point to while assuaging said relatives, and that's the debate watch parties we've seen for the first Presidential debate through Drinking Liberally, which included young people (and young-at-heart people) packing bars, auditoriums and coffeeshops throughout the country, all just to watch that supposedly not-so-cool televised debate with a bunch of their peers. In New York City, no less an authority than Comedy Central described it as "insanely crowded" when we filled DCTV with 200 engaged, overwhelmingly young voters; in Salt Lake City, they teamed up with Young Democrats of Utah to fill the local tavern to the brim; and in Denver, over 150 progressive Coloradoans found their way to the Skylark Lounge. It was a great night.

Though not everyone thought it would be so - when the first Presidential debate was announced as being on a Friday night, some were skeptical. As NPR's Day To Day made clear, Friday night is widely seen as

a time often reserved for dates, sporting events, or the beginning of a weekend getaway.

Which brings up the question - why not make watching the Presidential debates feel like a night on the town?

As DL's Executive Director (and my colleague) Justin Krebs noted,

"Watching political events has become sort of like watching sporting events in New York and around the country...State of the Union nights have become regularly accompanied by drinking games, and the debates are no different."

If we can get people across the country to gather together to watch a football game together, we can get young people to gather together to celebrate retaking their country together. As we prepare for tonight's Biden-Palin debate, be it by playing Palin Bingo or agonizing over debate prep, we can all drink to that.