Drinking Liberally reaches 200 chapters nationwide

From our friends at the National Level...

What Our 200th Chapter Means

With the arrival of Pagosa Springs, Colorado, the Drinking Liberally
map has hit 200 chapters. And with your help
(http://livingliberally.org/4.21.07), we're ready to go so much
further.

While beer companies should rejoice that more Americans are promoting
democracy one pint at a time, it's the progressive movement that has
cause to celebrate: with every new social club, we're building a
community that energizes and expands Liberal America.

Drinking Liberally has never been about the "drinking" -- it's about
creating a welcoming environment in which newcomers can engage,
activists can connect, and everyone can make progressive politics part
of their every day lives. And that's taken different shapes around
the country.

- In Reading, PA, Drinking Liberally is about hosting 100 activists to
meet grassroot candidates before the '06 election
- In Gooding, ID, Drinking Liberally is about defending the word
"liberal" from libelous attacks in the local newspaper
- In Natchez, MS, Drinking Liberally is about finding a bar where
black and white patrons feel comfortable attending together
- In Louisville, KY, Drinking Liberally is about building a network
that pledged thousands of dollars to local public radio

It's fitting that our 200th outpost is the 11th group in Colorado, a
state that is now tied with Pennsylvania for the most chapters.
Colorado is the center of the rising progressive power of the Mountain
West. Its landscape is dotted with dynamic groups like Progress Now
and Progressive Majority and terrific websites like
ColoradoConfidential.com and SquareState.net, a network of progressive
leaders and organizations that are creating real change and serving as
models of political action for the rest of the country.

We are proud to have 11 chapters in Colorado. We're so proud that we
held our 2006 Drinking Liberally National Conference in Denver...and
led the way for the DNC to follow suit next summer.

This rapid and remarkable growth signals another reason for the
progressive movement to be proud. Drinking Liberally has grown as
much or more between election cycles, when activism traditionally
drops off. We are proving that a liberal identity can and will exist
for many Americans more than once every four years.

Up to this point, Drinking Liberally has been fueled by an amazing
network of volunteers -- as is true for our Laughing Liberally comedy
shows, Reading Liberally book tours, Screening Liberally film series,
Eating Liberally meals and Blogging Liberally special events. But
there is only so large a network can grow and only so long it can last
on such a foundation. We have reached 200 chapters as a loose-knit
operation...imagine what we could do with the resources to build a
strong, sustainable organization?

That's why we are excited about the Living Liberally Launch Party
(http://livingliberally.org/4.21.07), this Saturday, April 21st, in
New York City. Living Liberally is the hub that connects all of these
projects, and will make our network an even more valuable partner to
the progressive movement. We're raising the funds to build our
infrastructure, hire our first paid staff and take our next giant
steps forward.

If you want to celebrate our 200th chapter or just tip your hat to the
local group in your town, if you're impressed with how this network
has grown or trust where we plan on taking it next, please buy a
ticket to this Saturday's event
(http://livingliberally.org/4.21.07/ticket.html). Even if you cannot
attend, you can make a contribution
(http://livingliberally.org/4.21.07/sponsor.html) that will help make
200 a stepping stone to even greater achievements.

Welcome, Pagosa Springs. Thank you, everyone, for promoting democracy
one pint at a time.