Leslie Pridgen is 29 and drinks vodka mixed with cranberry juice from a rocks
glass. Marilyn Armstrong is 53 and swigs Pabst Blue Ribbon from a bottle. Anne
Fortner is "well over 65" (she won't get more specific) and sips dirty martinis,
preferably with gin.
Different ages and drinks, but they have one thing in common: They're
liberals in a state full of conservatives.
All three are members of Drinking Liberally Charleston, a group that is not
the nemesis of Alcoholics Anonymous but wants to be the nemesis of the GOP. The
"Liberally" part of the name doesn't mean they like to imbibe injudiciously. It
means they like Bill Clinton. And they like to talk about their interests over a
pint, on the rocks or straight up.
Drinking Liberally started in New York City in 2003 and now has 145 chapters
in 40 states and the District of Columbia. The group's motto is "Promoting
democracy one pint at a time," and it bills itself as an informal, relaxed
networking group for liberals.
Pridgen and Armstrong are two of the three city leaders of Drinking Liberally
Charleston. The group has been gathering at 5:30 p.m. every Thursday at A Lite
Affair, at 137 Calhoun St., but it's looking to move soon to a bar that is not
as smoky, organizers say.
They started and developed as an organization at Voodoo on Magnolia Road in
West Ashley, then moved downtown a few weeks ago to spread their patronage to
other liberal bar owners, Pridgen says.
"Everybody who comes here says, 'I didn't know there were liberals in
Charleston,'?" says Pridgen, a West Ashley resident. "We're just here to get
together and let people talk politics in a welcoming environment."
It's not surprising that people don't know there are liberals in Charleston.
George W. Bush walloped John Kerry in 2004 in South Carolina by 58 percent to 41
percent. The margin is closer in Charleston County, but this is still firmly
Republican territory.
The group has a weekly newsletter, and the national Drinking Liberally
organization puts out its own e-mailed newsletter every few months. Drinking
Liberally Charleston's latest newsletter questioned how "the mysterious Ben
Frasier raked in more votes than Randy Maatta" in the June 13 primary.
A recent meeting attracted about eight people. Pridgen says the group had
been larger, but not everyone has made the jump to downtown, and the summer is
always a bit slower.
Their weekly discussions sometimes don't touch on politics and are just
social gatherings. Other times, "People are arguing with veins popping out of
their heads," Pridgen says.
Downtown resident Michael Cone, 36, was involved in a Drinking Liberally
chapter in Columbia before moving back to Charleston a few months ago. "It's
nice to come and know we can exchange ideas with like-minded folks," says Cone,
a Mount Pleasant native.
Despite being just across the street from Marion Square, A Lite Affair has
not a tourist in sight. It's a dark "locals' hole in the wall," owner Derrell
"Butch" Butcher says.
Bumper stickers reading "Impeach Bush" and "Re-Defeat Bush in 2004" hang on
the wall behind the bar, just above the whiskey. An American flag hangs to their
left. On a wall in the dining room is a poster for a Sasquatch fan club that
parodies the "I want you" Uncle Sam ads. The clientele is twentysomething,
heavily tattooed and fond of cigarettes.
Drinking Liberally got in touch with Butcher via MySpace.com.
"I was like, please, come here. I've been waiting for you guys to call,"
Butcher says.
Armstrong, one of the city leaders, takes a break from socializing to open a
package that was mailed to her on behalf of the bar. Inside is a
drinkingliberally.org pint glass. She pours her $1 PBR bottle into it.
"I'm not used to drinking out of this fine crystal," she says.
Armstrong says she joined, and ultimately became a leader of, Drinking
Liberally Charleston, because she was tired of all the conservatism in the city.
"We needed something to give us a reason to live," she says.
Drinking Liberally doesn't delve too much into political or social activism,
though the group did team with Charleston Peace on the "Army Men Project," in
which they covertly placed little green toy soldiers across the area in March to
prick people's consciences about the war in Iraq.
Armstrong says the group is diverse, with young and old, men and women,
whites and minorities in its ranks.
"It's just a cool way to talk about what's on your mind and nobody's going to
ask you for money or to volunteer with a candidate," she says.
"Everybody I know is a Republican," says Fortner, the martini drinker. "It's
nice to be around liberals for a change."
Reach Jimmy P. Miller at jpmiller@postandcourier.com.
