From Fat Tuesday to Blah Tuesday, New Orleans is celebrating a brand new holiday in similar debauchery — Election Day.
Stocking up on libations for big events is nothing new to New Orleans bars and liquor stores, but as Election Day arrives, many business owners are seeing sales rival traditional Mardi Gras numbers.
“It’s crazy out here. I’ve run out of rum and vodka three times this past week,” Pat O’Brien’s manager Morgan Richardson said.
Richardson said he first noticed the mad rush beginning on Oct. 27, the first day of early voting in Louisiana. Since that day, the demand for alcohol has crept up steadily, and he anticipates Election Day will set records.
Ugly Dog Saloon in the Warehouse District has specially developed shots of alcohol for the occasion that they say will make customers forget all their troubles. The shots include The Nasty Woman, The Bad Hombre, The Trumped Up, The Deplorable, The Shitshow, The Pay for Play, and The Nuclear Code.
“These shots are for the people who don’t have time to sip on a drink. They want to get drunk and they want to get drunk now,” Ugly Dog manager Chris Sunseri said.
What do experts think of the soaring alcohol sales?
“This likely all has to do with who we’re voting for,” Tulane Political Science professor Abigail Hendricks said. “Just about everyone hates the Presidential options, and having to pick one of them just makes you want to drink and forget about it. I have to teach about this election, and I’ve had a buzz going since the end of the party conventions.”
Never one to hide from a party, New Orleans businesses have made sure to be well equipped for Tuesday. Richardson said Pat O’s has rented out rooms in the Morial Convention Center to stock kegs and endless bottles of liquor for the day.
New Orleans Daiquiris said stores will have specials all day: half-price Blue Raspberry for Hillary Clinton voters, half-price Strawberry for Donald Trump Voters and a laugh in the face of Gary Johnson voters.
“We’re going to party like there’s no tomorrow,” Richardson said, “because no matter who wins the election, there likely won’t be.”