Need something to take the edge off as you wait for your fellow Americans to decide the fate of the nation? How about a distracting drinking game? (Those who prefer not to imbibe, or want to ensure they’ll be both awake and alert when the next president is announced, can substitute alcohol with stale Halloween candy).
Here are the rules, suggested by experts Bennett Gordon, Elizabeth Ryan, and Kari Volkmann-Carlsen here at Utne Reader. Drink or dig into the Halloween candy every time the following happen, unless another frequency is otherwise noted.
1. A red state goes blue, or vice versa (Potential targets for the former: Ohio, Virginia, Florida, Nevada, Colorado, North Carolina, New Mexico, Indiana. Potential targets for the latter: Pennsylvania, New Hampshire.)
2. A pundit says something he or she actually believes, mistakenly assuming that his or her mic is off (See: Peggy Noonan or the Rev. Jesse Jackson).
3. Drink/pop a Reeses every tenth time Joe the Plumber is mentioned. Anything less could cause alcohol poisoning or a hypoglycemic event.
4. Voter suppression reported. Do not drink or candy-binge for five minutes.
5. Flagrant network abuse of new Election Day gadgetry. Watch this SNL skit for examples:
6. Keith Olberman pounds his chest saying, “What’s up now?”
7. A Fox News anchor starts to cry.
8. A former candidate looks more convincing than he ever did while he was running (i.e., Al Gore, John Kerry, Bill Richardson)
9. James Carville uses folksy expression hitherto unknown to all speakers of English.
10. Network assures you, Joe the Viewer, that they won’t screw up this year by calling any race too early. Then calls a race too early.
11. Hanging chads come up.
12. Network actually mentions the Green Party (drink twice).
13. Obama wins. Stop drinking/eating candy. Go and dance in the street.
14. McCain pulls off upset. Finish off all the bottles in house.
Image by RichieC, licensed under Creative Commons.
