Recovering alcoholic Mark Dayton hangs out at a bar tonight

Dayton's wagon rolls into Drinking Liberally tonight

​Here's an awkward campaign event: DFL candidate Mark Dayton, a self-described recovering alcoholic, will be taking his stump speech into the belly of the beast, at the 331 Club bar for tonight's Drinking Liberally event.

Dayton is the last Democratic candidate for governor to speak to the group, which Margaret Anderson Kelliher described as "a required appearance for people seeking office."
Steven J. Timmer, the organizer for the Drinking Liberally chapter, said Dayton's furious schedule has made him a tough get, but there was no suggestion that he had any trouble spending the evening in a room full of beer-quaffing progressives.

"Most of us drink, but there are a couple who don't," Timmer says. "But, you know, Tom Emmer has two DWIs, and Dayton has none, so by one measure at least, there are people in the race with more of a problem."

Dayton is scheduled to speak and then take questions, starting around 7 p.m.