OK, I’m up and ready to rock. Not entirely sure what sort of trouble I’m gonna kick up today, but at least some of it should be interesting.  I’ll be cruising parts of North County with CA-50 candidate Nick Leibham and I’ll be watching at least some of the results at Drinking Liberally San Diego.  There’s another results party hosted by the San Diego Dems in Hillcrest and the Young Dems will be following along in PB at The Shore Club.  So if I can stick to tonic for a while, I might just hop a bit.

In the meantime, snapshots (literal and rhetorical) from polling places around town, any interesting media reports, probably at least one stop at Hillcrest Mardi Gras which has its own results tent (“Cast your vote before you come to the party, then watch the Primary Voting Results in the Mardi Gras Election Tent.”> and…hell I don’t know what else.  Feel free to make suggestions.  But while you’re at it, check in with your own experiences. We’ll try to keep things updated regularly all day and night.

Update 6:58am: Governor Schwarzenegger and McCain will be at a San Diego rally at 1pm. Hangar at Jim’s Air Aviation 2904 Pacific Highway.  Governor at 1pm, McCain newsconference at 1:50pm. Obama‘s campaign will watch results starting at 8pm at East Village Tavern and Bowl (which I love).  Romney folks will be at the Westgate Hotel starting at 8pm in tandem with the official SDGOP party.  And finally, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner will be at SDGOP headquarters today and “available” as president of the No on 93 Campaign. (h/t Capitol Morning Report).

Update 7:33am: Arrived at the polling place around 7:10.  Light turnout, about 5 people ahead of me in line, same number arrived while I was voting.  Precinct head said that something like half the precinct had already voted by mail. I assume that was exaggerated, but given the turnout, who knows.  If there’s more (relatively) early voting, that would likely benefit Clinton.  Or my experience could be entirely anecdotal.  Or I might have been lied to.  And check out the bad picture of Ron Paul signs across the street from the polling place.  Pretty slick. yeah.

Update 8:58am: I’m cribbing some wifi from the UTC Apple Store.  Touring North County polling places with Leibham is at least temporarily on hold as they’ve discovered the realities involved in trying to meet and greet in a congressional district with a ton of permanent absentees and over 1000 polling places- the people aren’t exactly congregating.  Other stuff may come up still, and if nothing else I’ll swing by the McCain event and the parties later.

Update 10:39am: MSNBC just reported that hundreds of people are trying to vote in Virginia only to discover that, surprise, the Virginia primary is next week.  Can I renounce my home state now?

(Let’s welcome the first of what I hope will be many reports from the CDP’s new online organizers! – promoted by David Dayen)

Tonight approximately 75 Stockton area Democrats joined together to watch George W. Bush’s last State of the Union Speech… ever. Sponsored by the Stockton branch of Drinking Liberally, our group met at the local Valley Brew, where we had a banquet room all to ourselves. We booed; we hissed; we snickered; we rolled our eyes; occasionally, one or two of us even yelled back at the big screen TV. And we played Bush Bingo. Sadly, we have all become so inured to Bush’s clichéd approach to governance that almost everyone was a winner — and usually in three, four or five different rows.

Spirits were high as we contemplated the 2008 elections and our opportunity to finally be rid of Bush and Republicans across the country.

Martha Gamez, Deputy Political and Outreach Director for the California Democratic Party (she’s one of the field organizers provided by the DNC under Howard Dean’s 50-State Strategy), was there, and she urged the participants to get involved in the DNC’s Neighborhood Leader program. The Neighborhood Leader program has been set up to encourage Democrats throughout California and the nation to make the commitment to talk to 25 of their neighbors three different times between now and November 2008.

Jerry McNerney’s campaign staff was also there, passing out in-lieu-of filing petitions for circulation.

The response at the gathering was enthusiastic. Folks were thrilled to see so many other like-minded Democrats who are fed up with Republicans and energized to take action on behalf of our Democratic candidates and causes throughout the coming year. If you’re in the Stockton area, you can find out more about the monthly Drinking Liberally meetings, as well as all the local Democratic clubs that meet in the area. And if you’d like to find out more about the Neighborhood Leader program, you can contact Martha at [email protected], or you can join the Facebook group or the Yahoo group.

Penny

Online Organizing Director

California Democratic Party

(I was there as well, representing the West LA Drinking Liberally. We’re going to have our Calitics Q3 Quarterly in association with DL on September 26. I was going to write this up but Jesse does an excellent job here. I did post my thoughts on the Harkin Steak Fry at my personal site here. – promoted by David Dayen)

Drinking Liberally’s 3rd Annual National Convention was held in Des Moines Iowa over the weekend.  It was a fabulous weekend for many reasons, but I’d have to say that the Des Moines chapter was the highlight of the trip.  The city leaders and their members are not only great people but they are amazing liberals who absolutely get it.  Future DL national conferences have a lot to live up to due to their effort and hospitality.  In addition to the productive meeting environment the DL National Organizers created and the great guest speakers they lined up for us, we attended the Tom Harkin’s Annual Steak Fry fundraiser.  Most of the Democratic Presidential candidates were there to meet, mingle and speak to Iowans (and some of us out-of-towners too). 

Please flip

More than anything, the national conferences are in place to get the people who run Drinking Liberally, the city leaders, together once a year.  The national leaders intentionally have a light touch on the direction of the organization.  The cities leaders are the ones really driving where Drinking Liberally ultimately goes.  The first portion of the weekend summarized where we came from, where we are today, where we want to go next and how we plan on getting there.  The “getting there” section was supplemented by guest speakers from the Center for Independent Media, Young People For and Open Left.  The panel was asked to focus on where Drinking Liberally fits into the progressive and liberal community and the value we bring.  Tom Harkin’s online communications point person (and DL member) also spoke to the group on how to engage elected officials and candidates in coming to a Drinking Liberally event.  The Harkin Steak Fry was a perfect end to the weekend.  Most of the candidates in attendance were accessible for a handshake at the very least and in some cases a casual conversation about the Drinking Liberally button they were just handed.

For those of you not familiar with Drinking Liberally you’ve obviously been working way too hard promoting the progressive/liberal agenda and haven’t enjoyed the benefits you are entitled to as a member of the community.  Flip liberally to hear more about Drinking Liberally and its parent organization Living Liberally, how to get involved or starting your own chapter.

Drinking Liberally is a national organization with more than 200 chapters where progressives and liberals come together to regularly “water the grassroots” in cities across the country.  It’s a place where progressives and liberals come to recharge our batteries, let our hair down, not work, recruit or be recruited, and generally feel at ease with others who have similar values, goals ambitions.

Drinking Liberally is the oldest and most well known group of larger umbrella organization, Living Liberally which also includes Laughing Liberally, Eating Liberally, Reading Liberally, and Screening Liberally.

Thriving communities require culture to sustain and nourish the members of the community, and Living Liberally has become a major part of the culture of the progressive and liberal community.  Living Liberally is also evolving into the face-to-face social networking component of the liberal and progressive community.  While Facebook, MySpace and Google groups are great for finding people with common interests, Living Liberally provides the in person contact and networking where real relationships are formed and can be capitalized upon. 

It all starts with an individual making the decision that their city or town needs a place where progressives and liberals can meet, can find others who share similar interests, can get a better feel for what is being done in the community or want to have a place where people can learn and engage in discussions focusing on progressive and liberal politics.  The city leader chooses a location, day, time and frequency of the “meeting.”  The meetings won’t start with an official call to order or include a meeting agenda with recorded minutes.  A social gathering is probably better a definition of the events. 

But don’t let the informality fool you.  Drinking Liberally chapters all over the country have been known to attract elected officials and candidates from all offices of city/county/state/federal government, great guests, best selling authors and prominent members of the online community.  New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson came to our National Conference party in Des Moines just this weekend.

On Wednesday, September 19th members Drinking Liberally San Diego will be attending the Calitics Quarterly Fundraiser in San Diego at the Firehouse American Eatery.  You can contact Lucas O’Connor ([email protected]) for more information.  *As an organization, Drinking Liberally does not support or endorse political parties, candidates, or issues. 

Sound appealing?  Visit www.drinkingliberally.org and look for a chapter near you.  Don’t see a chapter in your area?  Start one, it’s easy.  Running a DL chapter doesn’t take much time and is very rewarding knowing you are building the infrastructure of the progressive and liberal communities.

Feel free to email me with any question or comments.

Jesse Rubin
Drinking Liberally San Diego City Leader and National Field Organizer
[email protected]

Hi, everyone! I hope you had a good time chatting today. Well, it’s that time again when the sun comes down and the open thread starts up. So what’s on your mind tonight? What are you thinking about right now?

Tonight, I’m thinking about this Total Buzz piece about even MORE Minutemen follies. Remember the Minutemen? Yes, that racist group that’s falling apart! Well, it turns out that not only the Minutemen Project headed by Aliso Viejo man Jim Gilchrist is undergoing internal turmoil, but so is the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps. Remember them? They’re the original Arizona group that split from the original Minutemen project. Who knew that all these crazed egos can take down such a committed group of crazy xenophobes?

Sorry, but I just had to share that hilarious anecdote with you while I’m on my way to Drinking Liberally in Rancho Santa Margarita. Hey look, I can see my house all the way from here at the edge of the world on the 241 Toll Road! So what hilarious anecdote would you like to share with me? What good news clipping or wild viral video do you want to post tonight? What other blog story are you still reading?

Go ahead. Make my day. Fire away! : )

Calling everyone in South Orange County! You have a new Drinking Liberally group:

There’s a new Drinking Liberally event starting up in Orange County. In case you’re unfamiliar with it, Drinking Liberally is “an informal, inclusive progressive social group. Raise your spirits while you raise your glass, and share ideas while you share a pitcher. Drinking Liberally gives like-minded, left-leaning individuals a place to talk politics. You don’t need to be a policy expert and this isn’t a book club – just come and learn from peers, trade jokes, vent frustration and hang out in an environment where it’s not taboo to talk politics.” Starting this Thursday, May 3, we will be meeting weekly on Thursdays at 7pm at the Canyon Fireside Grille, 22312 El Paseo, Rancho Santa Margarita. It is being hosted by Gary Kephart ([email protected]).

Now here’s another option for all of you in South County who want to relax, unwind, and talk progressive politics with other friendly people… WITHOUT having to make the commute all the way to Santa Ana! South County Drinking Liberally… Ready to serve good politics, good talk, and good times EVERY THURSDAY in RSM. : )