Around Vegas, a pitched debate paired with candidate-inspired cocktails

By Jackie Valley

Thursday, Oct. 20, 2016 | 2 a.m.

As the real presidential candidates faced off at UNLV, their namesake boozy beverages battled for a victory in downtown Las Vegas.

Would “The Donald” or “The Hillary” garner more orders at the bar inside Inspire Theatre, where 100-some patrons gathered to watch the final presidential debate? Both cost $8.

The Democratic nominee’s beverage, described as a classic cocktail that’s a “little stiffer” than normal, took an early lead. But “The Donald” surged later, perhaps propelled by the puff of cotton candy resembling the billionaire nominee’s hair that sits atop the orange-colored concoction.

This is how a slice of Las Vegas celebrated the city’s signature political event this election cycle — with candidate-inspired cocktails and a large-screen projection of the debate.

“I’m always trying to look for unique-type events,” said Bill Kennedy, director of marketing for the Downtown Project, which manages Inspire Theatre. This opportunity seemed like a no-brainer to him. “Watch the debate. Beat the traffic.”

And if attendees enthusiastically shared the “Instagrammable” specialty drinks, all the better, Kennedy said. The ploy worked: Multiple patrons perfectly positioned the drinks in front of their smartphones and clicked away.

But if the success of the Las Vegas-based debate is measured by its social media traction, the hoopla started much earlier in the day.

Exhibit A: By 10 a.m., a line of food trucks formed a so-called “wall” outside the Trump International Hotel just steps from the Las Vegas Strip.

The rally, organized by the powerful Culinary Workers Union Local 226, protested Trump’s anti-immigration policies and served as a riff on a viral comment made by Marco Gutierrez, founder of Latinos for Trump:

“My culture is a very dominant culture, and it’s imposing and it’s causing problems. If you don’t do something about it, you’re going to have taco trucks on every corner.”

This coalition didn’t need taco trucks on every corner to make its point. Media descended upon the bizarre scene. Onlookers gawked from sidewalks. And police desperately tried to keep attendees within the sanctioned rally area.

Hassan Fofanah, a Liberian refugee who moved to Las Vegas in 2006, clutched his 4-year-old daughter’s fingers in one hand and a taco plate in his other. Not yet a U.S. citizen, the Culinary member can’t vote in this election.

But Fofanah, a status board operator at Steve Wynn’s Encore resort, attended the rally anyway to show his support for Hillary Clinton.

“Step by and let others lead,” he said, referring to Trump. “Leadership is not for him.”

Exhibit B: An old-fashioned pink Cadillac containing a naked Trump statue cruised north on Las Vegas Boulevard shortly after 2 p.m.. It veered left onto Fashion Show Drive and passed the Trump tower’s gilded windows.

The famous statue, crafted by local artist Joshua Monroe and unveiled in August, already had visited the Double Down Saloon’s parking lot, which faces the Thomas & Mack Center, the debate headquarters.

The skin-bearing figurine wasn’t the only nude political visual: On a nearby corner, 65-year-old John Beltz toted a large poster featuring a black-and-white sketch of Clinton donning handcuffs but not clothes. The words displayed atop the poster? “Hillary Stripped of the Lies.”

Beltz, who said he normally shies away from political discourse, called both parties “corrupt” but is casting a vote for Trump.

Exhibit C: As exotic dancers shimmied on a stage inside Crazy Horse III, a strip club just west of the Strip, televisions broadcast images of Trump and Clinton amid the room’s red glow.

When the debate began at 6 p.m., several patrons sipped drinks and chatted at a bar in the main room. Others sat at tables closer to the dancers’ stage. None paid much attention to the political entertainment onscreen.

But, in true Las Vegas fashion, the club offered drink specials to anyone interested in the debate throughout the evening: $20 beer buckets and $5 shots every time Trump complained to a moderator or Clinton preached about her positive relationship with the Obamas.

“With all the stress of this election, we wanted to give people a place to relax, and quite frankly — have a drink to take it all in,” Lindsay Feldman, director of brand marketing for Crazy Horse III, said in a statement. “The debates have become such a spectacle, and to have the final one here in Las Vegas, well, we feel like it’s almost a twist on ‘fight night.’”

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More than 90 minutes later, a woman inside Inspire Theatre breathed a sigh of relief when debate moderator Chris Wallace cut off the verbal tug-of-war between Clinton and Trump. The moment marked the end to presidential debates for another four years.

“Thank god,” she said.

Asbury Edens echoed the sentiment. The Las Vegas resident attended the watch party with her boyfriend, who’s a UNLV student. The couple didn’t want to tangle with the debate-induced traffic surrounding the university, so they opted for a downtown venue instead.

“I thought it was more of the same,” said Edens, a Bernie Sanders supporter dismayed by how this election cycle has progressed. “It’s so redundant and repetitive by now.”

Her advice to anyone heading to the polls in a few weeks: “Vote down ballot.”

As for the drink matchup, bartenders called it a tie. They didn’t actually track sales.

Sun reporter Ricardo Torres-Cortez contributed to this report.