Live from Charlotte: Distilling the DNC delegates

How much does it cost to write a $15,000 check to the Wounded Warrior Project? Much more than the sum written on the giant check Distilled Spirits Council President and CEO Dr. Peter H. Cressy presented to the organization Monday night.

DISCUS was the host of the Spirit of Charlotte event at the NC Music Factory, which provided a space for select invitees from the Democratic National Convention to relax with lobbyists with free booze.

All of the usual suspects were represented behind the circular bar built on a fountain. Jager Girls occasionally fluttered out from a Jagermeister station in the back of a room, insisting guests sample their liquid wares of honey flavored Jager.

However, nothing spoke greater to the free-flowing grandiosity of the event than the bar in the back corner of the venue which served up free shots of Johnnie Walker Blue Label. A 750L bottle of Blue Label can run on average $170 or, to look at it in lobbying terms, 88 bottles per Wounded Warrior check.

DISCUS wasn’t alone in putting on the event. The list on the sponsors’ sign included biopharmaceutical company Amgen, Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America, the Entertainment Software Association, the Mortgage Bankers Association, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, the National Association of Home Builders, the National Restaurant Association, and the National Realtors Association.

Cressy kicked off the event by telling the audience that it was their attendance that made the $15,000 check for Wounded Warriors possible. He left the stage to superband Camp Freddy, which featured Dave Navarro, Billy Morrison, Matt Sorum, Chris Chaney, and a slate of guest stars performing covers of everything from Spacehog’s “In the Meantime” to Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs.”

This article appeared on dane101.com on September 5, 2012.

  • September 5, 2012