Democratic Debate Drinking Game

you've been waiting for it... and here it is. at long last! my democratic debate drinking game. each player will need to pick a candidate. more than one person can pick the same candidate, but you should pick the candidate you plan to support.

first, however, i think we should set this thing up with some perspective.

recent polls

the latest la times/bloomberg national poll of democratic voters places clinton in the lead with 48% of the vote. obama trails with only 17% of the vote and edwards continues to bring up the rear with only 13%.

please note: obama is 31 points behind hillary.

the most recent university of iowa poll shows the potential voting in iowa as follows:

clinton 29%
obama 27%
edwards 20%
richardson 7%

richardson just can't seem to find any traction... but i think edwards is actually sliding in the must win state of iowa. the poll has a +/- of 5.5% but that still puts edwards out of even a statistical tie.

obama may be tracking up in the polls, but clinton does seem to be holding a slight lead.

gloves off?

perhaps this is why barack obama gave an interview to the new york times over the weekend where he promised to take off the gloves and start attacking hillary.

of course, he said the same thing back in august (i think) to the washington post.

i'm not sure attacking hillary now and abandoning his "politics of hope" will help at this point. doesn't it all just look desperate?

in fact....hill's camp has hit back to most attacks by edwards and obama by pointing out the desperation by the two camps who have appeared to stall in the polling.

i mean....let's look at edwards. he has attacked and attacked and attacked my girl. especially on lobbyist money. but as holly bailey of newsweek points out: "well, he's been saying this for months and it hasn't helped him in the numbers, poll-wise."

true, holly. so true.

so what does obama hope to gain? will this not turn off his NPR-listening supporters? is it too "politics as usual" for his crowd?

and will edwards possibly start attacking obama to try and take his legs out from underneath him? why shouldn't he go after both candidates leading him in the polls?

or will tonight be another all-against-one with everyone teaming up against hillary?

the media is practically begging for obama to attack hillary and draw blood? but will he ever land a real body blow?

and with that..... let's get to the game!

democratic debate drinking game rules

you may want to go ahead and call in sick for tomorrow now. i doubt tonight will be pretty. it's the first real debate everyone will be paying attention to and the candidates should be pulling out their full arsenal.

after all, only 65 days until iowa.

okay....once each person has picked their candidate... they must take a drink whenever the candidate uses any of the following words or phrases. it's that simple. your candidate utters these words, you chug my lovelies.

lets play!

hillary clinton: "leadership," "experience" or "girl."

any of these words....you drink, my fellow hillary supporters.

barack obama: "judgement" or any reference to hillary's vote on iraq or iran.

hell, you could probably get sloshed on the word "judgement" alone.

john edwards: "coal mine," "lobbyist" or any direct attack on hillary.

again...at the rate he's going: you could just go with "lobbyist."

bill richardson: "governor" or "as a governor i've done it."

or any discussion that "change and experience" come as a package with him. it might be fun to drink anytime he looks confused, as well.

joe biden: "truth" or "honest" (as in, "let's be honest" or "let me tell you the truth.")

you can also play for any time he goes off on troops dying and how he'll never vote to cut off funding as long as one american soldier is on the ground in iraq. you could also play with any mention of "body armor."

chris dodd: "here."

if you've ever heard the connecticut senator talk...trust me: you can get drunk simply playing with the word "here." the man uses it like punctuation. listen closely. you could get drunk after one answer from senator dodd when he's really worked up.

dennis kucinich: any time he finishes an answer with "that's what you'll get with a kucinich administration. thank you."

or any time he makes a joke about finally getting a question.

mike gravel: "follow the money."

and really...any time he goes off on some unintelligible answer....just drink. if you're voting for gravel, you're probably drunk anyway.

once the debate is over...you argue over who won. by now you should be well tanked so it should be a lot of fun. whoever is the last person standing or not in tears... wins!

enjoy.... and please: don't drink and drive.

leave that up to the cast of 'lost.'

e.