Bar Fly?

Dilemma yesterday. There was a social function for our department in a bar after work. It was clearly optional, clearly not work related, so I didn't have to go. However, the representative council of our department was having elections at the event, and I was running. If I didn't go, I couldn't win.

Let me give some background. I don't think going into a bar is assur, forbidden for a Jew. It's not like going into a non-Kosher restaurant, where your presence might imply that the food is kosher when it is not, as most alcoholic beverages are indeed kosher. However, I do think that patronizing bars is antithetical to a frum Jewish lifestyle. We believe that our lives have a purpose, an ever rising path towards meeting our Creator. Bars are the perfect example of ignoring that higher call - Killing time finding joy in the drink, to forget the potential that you are not acheiving. Also, drunkenness and the removing inhibitions conflicts with my understanding that a person's character should always be consistent. You shouldn't require inebriation to act correctly, and you shouldn't use your tipsiness as your excuse to escape appropriateness.

That all being said, I went to the event. No word yet on the election. Needless to say I was uncomfortable. I didn't drink anything, and made a point of it. However, the greater question was, maybe I should have just stayed home. I didn't need to run for election to any positions. But this runs contrary to my philosophy that a frum Jew need not hide in Kollel in Jerusalem to fullfill his spiritual destiny. But where is that line? I've always maintained that you can go out into any situation, and as long as you are armed with your ideals, you can thrive no matter how dispersed you are in a world of other values. But a bar?