Projo Politics Blog

Since the hilarious Prohibition-era reports of The Baltimore Sun's H.L. Mencken and before, the American political convention has been a great place to drink. The free-flowing tradition holds this week in the Mile High City, where the Democratic National Convention kicked off Sunday with a New Orleans-themed bash at the downtown Denver Convention Center.

After the final gavel each night, the festivities adjourn to clubs and hotels around town, where individual state delegations and interest groups gather for music and socializing.
There's even a commemorative beer that's in demand -- Maverick breweries have slapped "Barack Obama'' labels on their jumbo bottles.

All well and good for those who -- in the correct coinage of the liquor industry -- drink responsibly. But there are some who can't, former Rhode Island Rep. Tom Coderre of Pawtucket testifies from hard experience.

"I can remember being a delegate in the 1996 convention in Chicago and coming to those breakfasts and -- let's put it this way -- not feeling my best," said Coderre, whose battle with alcohol and cocaine were well-known in political circles.

So this year Coderre, who has been a recovering addict for some time now, helped to lead an effort to give sober conventioneers a chance to gather over coffee and soft drinks and, if the spirit moves them, sit in on a 12-step meeting.

Coderre's friend Patrick Kennedy, the Rhode Island congressman whose experience with alcohol and drug addiction recovery has become a big part of his political life, was among the convention delegates who helped to publicize the availability of the "Wellness Recovery Rooms'' in the Convention Center and the Pepsi Center, where the nightly Democratic program is staged.

The rooms also welcome those who suffer so-called "co-occurring'' mental illness -- not at all uncommon in the world of addiction, Coderre said.

That's a tricky business, since anonymity is a hallmark of the 12-step alcohol and addicton recovery movement. But Coderre said the organizers of the rooms have depended on their informal networks to pass the word.

"It's a chronic condition. It's not something that goes away,'' Coderre said of addiction, "so we have to support each other.''

Getting out of that world "has been such a turnaround, such a difference for me,'' Coderre said. And of course, he added with a smile, "I'm so much more alert to what's going on at the convention'' than he was 12 years ago in Chicago.

Extra: Hear Tom Coderre talk about his cocaine addiction, as part of a 2005 profile by Journal staff writer Jennifer Levitz.

Extra: Listen to The Journal's John E. Mulligan's exclusive interview with Rep. Patrick Kennedy after the R.I. congressman announced he would enter the Mayo Clinic for treatment of addiction to painkillers, after his 2006 auto accident.

 Tags  addiction alcoholism Democratic Convention Patrick Kennedy Tom Coderre

Comments

Peter Cassels said:

This is off-topic, but why not a story about how the RI delegation is in the nosebleed section in the convention hall, BEHIND Guam, of all things! Is it vindictiveness by the Obama campaign because RI went for Hillary? I'm detecting a lot of vindictiveness, and therefore dysfunctionality, among the Dems. I would think that because of his clout, Jack Reed could have arranged better seating for the Rhode Islanders.

Link | August 27, 2008 10:21 AM
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