Political ruminations go better with beer - Lucky Labrador

[depakid]

The sun is slanting diagonally onto the covered back patio of the Lucky Labrador Brew Pub. Squinting, we make our introductions. Nicole Vanderhoof and her parents, Sue and Roy Vanderhoof, are sitting at a picnic table, sharing a pitcher of beer. An upright red, white and blue sign that reads “Drinking Liberally” lets newcomers know that this is their group.

Nicole Vanderhoof founded the happy hour get-together in October, when the tension surrounding the presidential election was at its peak. “I would sit there and read all this news,” she says, and she thought, “there’s got to be other people who want to talk about this.” She was right. Not only that, but nearly a year later, she’s still drawing 20 or more people to her monthly, liberal-leaning gatherings.

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Drinking Liberally isn’t the only left-leaning drinking party in town. There’s a monthly, environmentally oriented event in the Pearl District called Green Drinks, which is part of an international network. There’s also a roving monthly happy hour affiliated with the Blue Oregon Web site, which draws policy-obsessed types, or, in the words of organizer Kari Chisholm, “hard-bitten hacks and political wonks.” (Ironically, their last meeting was at Bush Garden downtown.)


The Lucky Lab crew seems to be the most laid-back of these groups, but criticism of our president is still very sharp. Someone is complaining about a recent speech; Riddle jokes that Bush may not be the greatest speaker, but now, “He’s really moving on to his forte: He’s going on vacation.”

More: http://www.portlandtribune.com/archview.cgi?id=31237

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. So..... are we going to do it again? Sept. 3

First Sat. of every month sounds about right...

Thanks for the article!

V.