Posted on 06/22/2004 7:06:04 AM PDT by mondoman
There's no delicate way to say this, so out it comes: They served Coors at John Kerry's fund-raiser Monday night. Or tried to.
The night was surreal like that. Gary Hart drew an "Amen" introducing the guest of honor at the Westin Tabor Center - a real, live "Amen!" - and the guest of honor actually suggested running with Hunter S. Thompson on his ticket.
It was a night when the state's Democratic stars came out - Heath, Hart, Hickenlooper, Schoettler, Pena, Webb - but neither of the party's nominees for an open U.S. Senate seat.
Ken Salazar was somewhere in Michigan or Illinois. Mike Miles was in Durango.
The closest senatorial facsimiles were Rutt Bridges, who was a candidate for, like, a week before dropping out of the race. And some cold bottles behind the bar that went largely untouched.
"I haven't sold any" of Republican Senate candidate Pete Coors' beverage of choice, said Jeff Miller, a bartender, probably relieving Democratic officials statewide.
The beer drinkers on hand shunned Coors and Coors Light for Sam Adams, a good Boston brew, and some Heineken (which they make in Holland; good luck finding symbolism there).
Miller and several other bartenders also poured Maker's Mark, Tanqueray and a lot of red and white wine. The people buying the drinks, fresh from paying a $1,000 cover charge, wore sport coats and ties, dark dresses and pant suits.
Everyone except Tom Higley, who looked oddly out of place in pressed slacks, shiny shoes, a sweater, no tie or coat. Many reasons explain why. He's retired. He's from Boulder. He mastered the dress-down-for-shock-value art as a kid.
Plus, Higley didn't think it would matter. "You might not be able to get away with this at a Republican fund-raiser," Higley saidd, "but you should be able to at a Democratic one."
On a night when guests dropped $1.4 million for Kerry and Democratic causes, no one else cared to test the theory. Even the wait staff wore white jackets. The man twinkling Stardust on the piano wore a suit.
He is a good story, the pianist, but he won't give his name. He plays piano professionally, for a different downtown hotel. He showed for the Kerry event as a volunteer, thinking he'd greet guests or direct press traffic or something.
"The said they needed a piano player," he said, "and here I am."
He switched seamlessly into Georgia (anything Ray Charles is big this week) and rattled off a couple of the more interesting requests of the evening: Happy Days are Here Again, followed immediately by Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Hart's voice pulled the crowd into a nearby ballroom, and the piano stopped. The former senator drew his "Amen" with a line about holding President Bush's administration accountable for the Sept. 11 attacks.
Then he yielded to a tired-but-wired presidential candidate, who took the microphone to chants of "Ker-ry, Ker-ry." Later, he would joke about running with Thompson and mining the crowd for money.
First, he smiled really big.
"Boy do I like being here in Denver," Kerry said. "Wow."
Pat Schroeder, Gary Hart, Frederico Pena all the Democratic luminaries--drinking IMPORTED BEER from Holland and Taxachusetts!!! And to think, John F. Kerry is a native born Coloradoan!
I knew that there was some reason I did not like Coors.
On the other hand, if pressed by the press, Republicans can simply state that they're honoring a loyal Republican Senator.
Freaking amazing - this from the same folks, who hear about everyday citizens boycotting a movie or radio show because it is offensive to them, will not hesitate to howl about censorship. Then, they have the gall to do the same thing and brag about loyalty to the party...
Aren't Democrats supposed to be Budweiser fans?
Well I suppose 'Tollerance' and 'Diversity' only go so far....
? why don't you like Coors?
My Coors consumption is going up
I think you got the story backwards.
The closest senatorial facsimiles were Rutt Bridges, who was a candidate for, like, a week before dropping out of the race.
Rutt Bridges??? sounds like a porn star!
There is just something about the taste of Coors that I don't care for. Olympia beer, I like, but it must be a west coast beer.
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