It should be no surprise that the town that annually throws "nerd prom" — a.k.a. the White House Correspondents Association Dinner — is being transformed into what feels like one big debate watch party as dozens of bars across Washington are offering drink specials that promise to wet the whistles of the city’s frattiest of frat boys and most serious of sorority girls.
Shots, shots, shots
At Union Pub, which is just a stone's throw from the Capitol, patrons will be included in a drinking poll of either a “Coconut Drink” — served in coconut cups — or an orange soda and vodka dubbed their “Orange Drink.” Doors are opening early as it was at capacity by 7:30 p.m. for the first debate.
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In the more upscale Dupont Circle neighborhood, The Admiral is serving up partisan "blue wave" and "red state" shots. And just down the street at Madhatter, they’ll be playing debate bingo while serving up red, white and blue shots for $5.
At the Royal Sands Social Club, Democrats will be enticed by their $6.50 "brat" special while Republicans can pound "Mar-a-Lago" shots.
Things promise to be more staid at the region’s eight Busboys and Poets, where local community leaders will address patrons at 7 p.m. before each restaurant airs the 9 p.m. debate.
Politicians are boring
While most all the drink specials around Washington are aimed at underpaid Hill staffers, many of the nation’s policymakers are planning their own private debate watch parties — one’s many are throwing for themselves.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) was salivating for the debate early as he was walking through the Capitol on Tuesday afternoon with a fresh bag of specialty popcorn he snagged from the Senate Cloakroom.
“It's sweet heat. Some sort of popcorn,” Tillis told a gaggle of congressional reporters while he was waiting for the tram underneath the Capitol. “But I'll do what I always do. I watch debates by myself, and I’ll be having a good, nonalcoholic can of Sam Adams beer — I gave up alcohol last year.”
While Tillis gave up alcohol altogether, with a tight election just around the corner, he’s got some temporarily dry companions, like Rep. John Duarte (R-CA), who will watch the debate with his team at the Republican-only Capitol Hill Club.
“My staff and I, we get a table,” Duarte told Raw Story just outside the U.S. Capitol. “It’s usually quiet during the debate, but afterward, we all kind of get up and screw around a little bit.”
During the last debate at the private club across the street from the Cannon House Office Building, Duarte sipped a couple of rye whiskies, but with his own reelection on the line in November, the first-term lawmaker says tonight will likely be different.
“What will you be drinking tonight?” Raw Story asked.
“Probably nothing. When you travel — when you're a freshman on the West Coast, in a swing district, there's not a lot of times you feel like putting a couple down,” Duarte said. “The next day comes fast.”
Shhhhhhhhush
As for what he hopes to hear tonight, Duarte says he’ll be listening for policy.
“I just want to see both sides lay out their policy agendas clearly. Compare them. See who's credible in stating their policy agenda,” Duarte said. “I mean, obviously one person has a fairly consistent agenda that has been there. The other has an agenda that seems to want to evolve and mutate fairly on the fly.”
California Democrats laugh off Duarte’s critique that Vice President Kamala Harris is running away from her progressive California roots.
“That's the heart of her story. She leads with it all the time,” Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) told Raw Story while walking back to his office after voting in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday. “She's running to be a president for all Americans. She has the right to evolve on issues. I think we all evolve on issues.”
As for his big plans tonight? Swalwell plans to get in the zone like he does on NFL game day.
“I watch debates like I watch the 49ers. I don't want to be in a crowd. I want to have the right to, like, cheer really loudly or scream really loudly,” Swalwell said. “It's weird. It's not fun for anyone who's around me.”
“Do you just watch by yourself?” Raw Story asked.
“No, I watch with my wife,” Swalwell said.
“Poor lady,” Raw Story joked.
“Poor lady, exactly,” Swalwell laughed. “She tells me I'm the unpaid assistant coach for the 49ers. That's kind of how I watch big games or big political moments.”
To make the evening more palatable for his wife, Swalwell’s planning to bust out a red from California wine country’s Wente Vineyards.
“Just a winery in my district where I got married,” Swalwell said.
While other politicians won’t be drinking, most all will be watching.
“Absolutely, I'm one of those few people who enjoy the presidential debates, particularly ones I'm not in,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) laughingly told a scrum of reporters at the Capitol on Tuesday.
It’s not just sitting lawmakers — it’s also sitting lobbyists, including at least one former Senate majority leader who’s bracing for the unexpected.
“Nervously,” former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott told Raw Story while riding an elevator in the Capitol. “Done a few of those — you better be careful.”
That’s one area of bipartisan agreement.
“The race is deadlocked. I mean, you know, it could go either way, so the one debate we may have, it's critical,” Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) told Raw Story while walking across the U.S. Capitol grounds on Tuesday.
“Are you nervous?” Raw Story pressed.
“I think everyone's nervous on all sides,” Moskowitz said through nervous laughter.
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