Most of the partygoers, the majority of whom were men, were still in good spirits despite the low party turnout - Wehrle said he had expected at least 50 people - and said they did not regret coming to the party. Posted on 11/03/2004 10:45:39 AM PST by LurkedLongEnough
Although most voters went to bed unfulfilled Tuesday night, few were as dissatisfied as those at the Cambridge Votergasm party.
Despite going to illegal lengths to throw the bash, as midnight approached, host Ian Wehrle's 16 guests were left with their clothing on, idly gathered around the TV, talking about sex but certainly not having any.
Most of the partygoers, the majority of whom were men, were still in good spirits despite the low party turnout - Wehrle said he had expected at least 50 people - and said they did not regret coming to the party.
Wehrle, a 21-year old Berklee College of Music student, said he broke into the unoccupied Cambridge apartment in order to throw the party after he walked by it several times and noticed it was vacant.
"I've always had an interest in that whole '70s and '60s acid orgy scene, so I thought, 'Why not try to rekindle that spirit?'" Wehrle said.
Votergasm is a non-partisan organization targeting young voters, who pledge to vote and have sex only with other voters on Election Day. Those who pledge will also withhold sex from non-voters for periods as short as 24 hours and as long as four years. About 35,000 people took the Votergasm pledge, according to the organization's website.
Several guests said they thought coupling sex and voting was a great idea.
"People use sex to sell everything, so why not use it to sell voting?" Waltham resident Valerie Gorbulov said. "I am disappointed with the lack of the orgy though."
While most guests were from Boston and Cambridge, some people came from Rhode Island and as far as Maine in hopes of experiencing a "votergasm."
Emily Mitchard, 21, said that when she first learned of the campaign, she had an "emotionally negative" response to it, which caused her to realize she should step out of her comfort zone.
"I decided to let go of my ego and have a good time," Mitchard said. "I'm just stepping out of the norm for a bit. It's my youth and I might as well live it up."
Wehle decorated the "borrowed" apartment with streamers, red and white balloons and pictures of the candidates, as well as set up rows of air mattresses covered with 1970s-era quilts and offered a bowl of complimentary condoms.
"This all has to be gone by 6 o'clock," said Wehrle, referring to his concern about the apartment's landlord discovering the covert operation.
Somerville photographer and digital artist David Gordon said he went to the party because he thought it would be a good place to sell his art.
"I'm an artist, and I thought this would be a good place to put up my work and I thought I might get laid, too," Wehrle said.
A 21-year-old Somerville software developer named Ben, who declined to give his last name, said he learned about Votergasm from salon.com. He went because he thought it would be fun, although he did not think the sex-driven campaign propelled people to the polls.
"I was voting anyway," he said. "I don't think it actually motivates anyone to have sex or anyone to vote, but it seemed like a good reason to have a party."
Two of the three women in attendance came with their boyfriends, although they said they were open to sexual relations with other people.
"I was concerned that there'd be a bunch of guys showing up to get laid ... and then there'd be my girlfriend," said Berklee sophomore Gabriel Mireles.
His girlfriend, 24-year-old Boston resident Liz Boisvert, said she did not think more people would hook up at this party than at any other college party and people should not have been upset by the Votergasm mission.
"If you respect people's right to choose the president, you should respect people's right to have sex when they want to," she said.
John, a Harvard neuroscience researcher who also declined to disclose his last name, said he thought that even though Votergasm is non-partisan, the party drew an overwhelming amount of liberal voters.
"There's a history of combining sex and politics - antiwar protestors got chicks," he said. "Having the right political persuasion gets you sex."
Although Wehrle's party did not turn out like he had hoped, he said he was not disappointed.
"If we would have gotten one person here it would have been a success because one person would have come," Wehrle said.
These are the type of people America rejected last night.
Liberal, stupid and horny is no way to go through life, kids...well, horny, maybe...
Good idea though!
If liberalism is the "right political persuasion," it can also get you screwed, as proved by yesterday's events.
TYPICAL LIBERALS --- TALK, TALK, TALK .... NO ACTION.
Ladies and gentlemen: The natural Wonkette constituency. :)
I had the wrong idea about this group. I thought that they were going to show up randomly at polling places and propose sex to total strangers as a "reward" for voting. I guess it wasn't necessary to make my wife send in an absentee ballot.
The got a bad case of "Ejackass Interuptus"...bet that hurt
Yeah...like what if liberals hosted an ORGY...and nobody came...
So, if I have an "emotionally negative" response to shoving little old ladies down a really long flight of stairs, I should just "step out of my comfort zone"? Jeeze, what idiots.
Why not have it in your OWN apartment?
Caucus interruptus...?
I heard a caller to a local Boston talk show today who went to either the Cambridge Mass City Hall or Registry of Deeds this morning (I cant remember which one that she mentioned) and she said the employees were wearing black armbands. I imagine they asked that the flag be flown at half mast, too. It really is the "people's rebulik" over there in fantasy land by the Charles.
This is so funny! No wonder we won.
The liberals can't even organize a freaking orgy! With college students! And drugs!
Now that's the ultimate definition of lame.
Face it, your normal lib could f-up a wetdream.
I'll have to check with the husband to be sure but I think they actually DID.
What's the point of being a liberal if you can't get laid?
Hey, I fit two of those catagories can I be a Liberal too?
They showed a lack of staying power yesterday. Our side stayed firm well into the night. ;-)
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