Palin: Helping Hollywood Republicans “Out”?
On Friday after returning from St. Paul, a friend and I went out to dinner at our favorite Ethiopian restaurant. Â As we were finishing up, I heard a loud male voice proclaim how John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin had made him proud to be a Republican — “for the first time in three years.”
What struck me was not just the synchronicity of hearing a Republican gushing about our party’s ticket on the day I returned from seeing them nominated, but that he would proclaim his enthusiasm in such a loud voice in a public space in the heart of liberal LA, within a few miles of Hollywood.
Normally, when we Republicans discuss politics in Hollywood, we do so in a hushed tones, fearful that some left-leaning player might hear us and thus “black list” us.
This enthusiastic Republican wouldn’t be the only one to gush about Sarah.  Earlier today, while doing my cardio at my gym in the heart of Hollywood, I heard two women discuss Palin in normal tones of voice.  Delighted to hear such support of my party’s vice-presidential nominee in a place where I am often needled for my conservative views, I chimed in, noting that “I was there” for the speech.
One of the women observed that many of their (her and her husband’s) Hollywood friends who had been “in the closet” (her expression not mine) about their Republican views were openly expressing their support of the ticket now that John McCain had chosen Sarah Palin as his running mate.
Like Tammy Bruce, they don’t agree with her on abortion, but are impressed with her persona and accomplishments. Â And with John McCain for tapping such a strong woman.
Of course, two conversations do not a trend make, but hearing Republicans in Hollywood so openly discuss our party’s candidates is not something you encounter every day. Â Especially when they’re speaking in a normal tone of voice — or louder.
UPDATE (John, Average Gay Joe): The Weekly Standard has an interesting column on Hollywood celebrities supporting the McCain campaign. Check it out to learn more about the “Friends of Abe, an informal group of entertainment-industry conservatives”.
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Thank God Palin will liberate us from the yoke of liberal oppression, so that decent folks can speak their minds with fear of black-listing by the liberal establishment.
Let’s stick it to those liberal establishment fat-cats in Washington. Eight years is long enough! Let’s put a Republican back in the Oval Office!
Comment by Nurglitch — September 8, 2008 @ 6:35 pm - September 8, 2008
It’s good to hear some rational discussion about McCain and Palin even in Hollywood, though I’m not getting the same vibe here in San Francisco. We had “Opera in the Park” yesterday – a free concert put on by the San Francisco Opera held in Golden Gate Park that brings out the picnicking crowd – and was shocked that the master of ceremonies started the event with several derogatory jokes about Sarah Palin and her family. It was revolting. Thankfully, there was only limited applause, but I’m not sure if it’s because people were shocked by it or whether it’s because people were just settling in and not paying attention. There’s got to be a way to save this great city from the nutcases who think they own the place.
In any case, is your Palin enthusiasm still “tempered” these days? I really have to say I’m proud to have been on the Palin bandwagon since before it was cool.
Comment by DaveO — September 8, 2008 @ 6:56 pm - September 8, 2008
San Francisco reminds me of what people say about Paris — it would be a great city were it not for the inhabitants.
Comment by Julie the Jarhead — September 8, 2008 @ 8:51 pm - September 8, 2008
good grief. palin is the flash in the pan. rock star for a week.
Comment by michael — September 8, 2008 @ 9:00 pm - September 8, 2008
Seems the morale on the left is collapsing. Except for those whistling past the greek temples.
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/p-j-gladnick/2008/09/08/leftwing-blogosphere-panics-over-new-usa-today-gallup-poll
Comment by Gene in Pennsylvania — September 8, 2008 @ 9:52 pm - September 8, 2008
Nyala is an awesome restaurant. Great food!
Comment by James — September 8, 2008 @ 10:02 pm - September 8, 2008
I am not gay but I do know what it’s like to feel it necessary to conceal one’s political proclivities. I am a conservative who happens to live in New York. I also work in academia and almost all of my friends and colleagues are hard line Lefties. Whenever I have too much to drink at a social gathering and I blurt out that I am a conservatives, most of the people in my social circles glare at me as if I declared that I was a pedophile that was released from jail due to a legal technicality.
Comment by Right Turn — September 8, 2008 @ 10:45 pm - September 8, 2008
Right Turn, it is strange eh, the supposed “most tollerant” amongst us, the liberals, the progressives, do the same to gays who are conservatives as well. When I argue my beliefs, I ask, what’s harder….to be an african American and not vote Democrat, be gay and not vote Democrat or to actually use your head, think thru the issues and form you own judgements. Conservative blacks and gays aren’t in the mindless herd, the wildebeasts who run over the cliff following the leader.
Comment by Gene in Pennsylvania — September 8, 2008 @ 10:57 pm - September 8, 2008
Gene, the problem is the Democratic Party leadership has become the party of the victimized, no matter what demographic (women, gays, minorities, artists, academics, underpaid intellectuals, etc.) I know the mindset because I was a Lib for a brief period of time while I was in college. The Dems are akin to an emotionally abusive partner who tears their lover down, breaking their spirit, thus stripping them of their self-esteem but then they temper it with sweet, manipulative words like “You are ugly and have nothing to offer and I am the only one that will love you. Besides, you have nowhere else to go. So shut up, fuck you, and see you on Election Day.”
This emotional shackling is the only reason I can think of as to why gays and Blacks insist on voting for a party that blatantly takes them for granted.
Comment by Right Turn — September 8, 2008 @ 11:15 pm - September 8, 2008
They’re in full panic. They know they don’t appeal to America..
Uh oh. They’re beginning to panic!
Primal Scream by TPM’s Josh Marshall:
The TPM email bag this morning is chock of emails saying, in so many words, is it time to panic? […]
[W]e’re left to take it on faith that [Obama’s campaign people] know what they’re doing, without having much way of seeing for ourselves [in the messaging and air war].
I certainly hope they do. But what I see is a campaign that is for some reason either unwilling or unable to take the initiative in the national messaging war. It’s all reactive. And, yeah, that worries me.
We’re Gonna Frickin’ Lose this Thing by HuffPo’s Adam McKay:
“Stop saying that!†my wife says to me. But this is not a high school football game and I’m not a cheerleader with a bad attitude. This is an election and as things stand now, we’re gonna frickin’ lose this thing. Obama and McCain at best are even in the polls nationally and in a recent Gallup poll McCain is ahead by four points.
Something is not right. We have a terrific candidate and a terrific VP candidate. We’re coming off the worst eight years in our country’s history. Six of those eight years the Congress, White House and even the Supreme Court were controlled by the Republicans and the last two years the R’s have filibustered like tantrum throwing 4-year-olds, yet we’re going to elect a Republican who voted with that leadership 90% of the time and a former sportscaster who wants to teach Adam and Eve as science? That’s not odd as a difference of opinion, that’s logically and mathematically queer [sic]. …
Comment by Vince P — September 8, 2008 @ 11:21 pm - September 8, 2008
Gene, most gays and minorities suffer from battered voter syndrome. For those of you who have been in an abusive relationship, you know what this entails. Much, if not most, of the Democratic Party leadership insists on declaring themselves the protectors of the victimized. But that only works if you have people who are conditioned to be victims (Blacks, gays, women, artists, academics, union workers, etc.) The abuser conditions their partner (in this case, the voter) that they have no power and nothing to offer. They say things like “You are fat, stupid and ugly and no one will love you as good as I can. Besides, where would you run away to? Those other guys hate you and want to destroy you. You have no place else to go. So shut up, fuck you, take what I give you and like it.”
From my observations, the Dems are the Joel Steinbergs to the gays’ and blacks’ Hedda Nussbaums.
Comment by Right Turn — September 8, 2008 @ 11:26 pm - September 8, 2008
Vince,
If you were gay I’d say “Clairee, Are you high?”
….drink your kool-aid, email Michael and get some therapy!
You got Biden…deal with it!!
jeb
Comment by jebntex — September 8, 2008 @ 11:43 pm - September 8, 2008
Right Turn,
They pretend to be the protectors of everyone except those that think hard work, faith in God and love of country are the best qualities of being a great citizen of the USA.
I am proud of the gay men and women that are thoughtful and wise enough to be a conservatives.
Jeb
Comment by jebntex — September 8, 2008 @ 11:55 pm - September 8, 2008
jeb: I am gay.
I was quoting two comments from leftists.. i’m not sure what you are talking about
Comment by Vince P — September 9, 2008 @ 12:13 am - September 9, 2008
Most of your left-wing friends would probably be OK with that.
Comment by V the K — September 9, 2008 @ 6:59 am - September 9, 2008
Perhaps, perhaps not. We shall see over the course of the next two months as Palin undergoes interviews and the debate on October 2nd. There is also the possibility of a serious gaffe. At present I feel pretty good about how things are going but if there is a hopeful bright spot your side has it is this: as difficult as it is not to succumb to the infectious giddiness about McCain-Palin’s chances, the GOP can still blow it and conservatives can overplay their hand prior to the election. That’s why as nice as it is to see the polls right now I take them with a grain of salt. The ONLY poll that matters is in November. Of course if your side had remembered this as well perhaps the Obama Campaign wouldn’t be in the pickle they presently find themselves in. The arrogance of the man is palpible.
Comment by John — September 9, 2008 @ 7:41 am - September 9, 2008
It indeed does look like panic. On MSNBC this morning they showed Barack actually screeching, “do these people actually think you are stupid”? Some of the NBC trolls said Obama needs to calm down and have surrogates do that kind of campaigning. The bloom is off the rose, poof he’s gone.
BHO’s first big decision…..picking a VP choice. People were watching. They wanted the change, the excitment, the yes we can, the hope for a better tomorrow. Proof that Obama wasn’t just another of the old lefties with socialist inclinations.
Who’d he pick? That first real big decision.
Jumpin Joe Biden. 35 years in “Warshington”. Old grey balding white guy. From…..Delaware. Same old northeast liberal. 3rd most liberal Senator behind the most liberal Senator Obama. Delaware…population 700,000 people. Obama, shoring up his northeast, liberal base. Change… seems the people aren’t stupid after all.
Comment by Gene in Pennsylvania — September 9, 2008 @ 8:21 am - September 9, 2008
The media needs to talk about the gender gap. Mac Palin now way ahead with women. Gender gap Gender gap Gender gap. Is this the fun part? Are we having fun?
Comment by Gene in Pennsylvania — September 9, 2008 @ 8:23 am - September 9, 2008
Obama to nibble arugula with wealthy Hollywood elite at $28,500-a-ticket fundraiser. At least he will be away from those bitter gun-owning peasants who cling to religion.
Comment by V the K — September 9, 2008 @ 8:28 am - September 9, 2008
Sarah Palin is not the person the Obama Campaign wants you to think she is.
Compare and contrast with the Obama’s “achievements” as a state legislator and community organizer. The hick small-town Jesus-freak mayor looks pretty darn good.
Comment by V the K — September 9, 2008 @ 9:28 am - September 9, 2008
Good neologism from Jonah Goldberg: McPalin.
He talks about them “double-teaming” Obama. This is the part where I try to forget the gay porn I’ve viewed in the past and remember it’s a basketball term.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — September 9, 2008 @ 10:49 am - September 9, 2008
The Thunder Run has linked to this post in the – Web Reconnaissance for 09/09/2008 A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day…so check back often.
Comment by David M — September 9, 2008 @ 11:29 am - September 9, 2008
Obama really is getting entertainingly desperate. After all, why would he be shrieking about “lobbyists” in the McCain campaign when he himself is running around with even more of them?
Democrats, if any of you are listening, this is why affirmative action is bad; you end up with minorities who honestly and truly believe that they don’t have to be intelligent, logical, or consistent to get and hold a job.
Comment by North Dallas Thirty — September 9, 2008 @ 12:10 pm - September 9, 2008
I can’t wait to see the candidates side-by-side in the debates.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — September 9, 2008 @ 12:19 pm - September 9, 2008
IOW: Mrs. Smith vs. Washington’s biggest, dumbest blowhard… or Senator “Uh, Uh, Uh, I’m, Uh, Fighting, Uh, For You, Uh” vs. the only guy among the top four who has actually fought for us.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — September 9, 2008 @ 12:21 pm - September 9, 2008
Andrew Breitbart, on the Hollywood Left:
I feel sorry for the moderate Democrats whose party is in the vise-lock of thse people.
Comment by V the K — September 9, 2008 @ 12:44 pm - September 9, 2008
Palin:
She has next to no experience in government. When ask about national security back ground or knowledge regarding foreign affairs the best Ms. McCain could come up with was “she lives right by Russia.â€
She has only traveled outside the country twice in her life.
She was associated with to a 3rd party which among other things supports allowing Alaska to secede from the United States and feels the only thing wrong with the John Birch Society was it was to liberal! Her husband “First Dude†was registered as a member of this party between 1994 and 2004!
She tried to have a local Librarian fired for not banning books. She used her political office to try to have fired and smear a state trooper who is in a custody battle with her sister. She fired the guy who stood his ground and would not fire the trooper. She is being investigated for this and is worried enough about the outcome to have recently “lawyered up.â€
Palin currently has pretty messy family issues. She recently gave birth to a son with Downs Syndrome and has a 17 year old daughter who is pregnant. Ironically she has fought sex education in the schools and availability of contraception for minors. I am glad she was able to make the choice to carry her disabled son to term…we all need the right to make our own choices!!!
She believes that for 9 months a woman has no right to control what is happening to her own body and is basically nothing more than a baby container. She does not believe in a women’s right to choose to end a pregnancy, even if she has been raped.
She tried to force her under age daughter into a marriage of political convenience, but her daughter would have none of it. Her oldest son may have joined the military to keep from going to jail. He and his 3 friends apparently caused $10,000 damage to a fleet of school busses. Track ( Palin’s son) was 16 at the time and was likely the one who provided he alcohol consumed by himself and the other 3 youths involved. There are multiple pictures showing both of her teenage (under age) children drink alcohol.
She has allowed her pregnant daughter, Bristol and her daughter’s boyfriend, Levi, to drop out of their Senior year of high school. They are on the campaign train with her as her own pro-life poster children. She reminds me of Lynn Spears (you know Britney and Jamie Lynn’s mother) as she seems to see nothing wrong with exploiting your children for your own fame and gain.
It has been reported she had an affair with her husbands business partner. Wow, if this is an example of “family values†I am very confused.
She does not believe human pollution has anything to do with global warming (even Bush has had to back down on this one). Is so in bed with big oil she is willing to watch as the polar bear and beluga whales become extinct, rather than slow the possibility of drilling. She would open up one of the last great wilderness on earth to exploitation by oil interests.
She laughed when hearing a fellow Republican woman being called a bitch in public (she and the woman had disagreed on several issues) I guess this does make her on par with McCain who thinks it is alright to call your wife a cunt in public.
She has been repeatedly described as stubborn with a vicious streak – even by family and friends. (nick name Sarah Barracuda)
Has an undergraduate degree in Journalism for a small obscure university. It took her six years and at least 5 different colleges to manage to get this undergraduate degree. Most people who have been in school that long have a Masters at least. If she were any kind of a student she could have been within 2 years of having her doctorate.
She did fund raising for Sen. Ted Stevens (think major Alaskan corruption) and accepted money from the same sources as Sen. Ted Stevens. She pushed for the “bridge to no where – the flipped when convenient to do so. In spite of what she has said she fought for earmarks for her home town and state…some of the same one condemned by McCain. She left the town she was major of in debt. Think pushing huge costly money pit sports complex at the expense of roads and sewer systems.
She has been named Sen. John McCain’s VP selection for the Republican ticket. Sen. McCain is 72 years old and has reoccurring cancer as part of his health history. One can not help but question Mr. McCain’s judgment regarding her selection. John McCain has made a calculated political choice in selecting his VP, that has unfortunately put an undereducated, inexperienced right wing nut case a “heart beat†away from becoming President at a time when our Nation faces some of the most complex and volatile issues it has in decades.
I am a Christian and a pastors wife…I was not completely decided on my vote until I really started to look into what this woman has done and what she stands for…she does not have my vote!
Comment by Rebecca Burt — September 10, 2008 @ 10:14 pm - September 10, 2008
Yet as VICE PRESIDENTIAL candidate she far exceeds the paltry record of PRESIDENTIAL candidate Barack Obama, or as Rudy Giuliani put it:
“[Obama's] never run a city, never run a state, never run a business. He’s never had to lead people in crisis.”
Cindy McCain isn’t running for office. What national security experience does Obama have, other than a speech he gave in 2004 as Hillary Clinton put it?
So? When she did, Palin had the decency to visit wounded soldiers while Obama did not.
False.
Todd Palin isn’t running for office and it was 1995 through 2002 actually. Besides, as AIP itself notes:
“Todd Palin was registered as a member but never participated in any party activities aside from attending a convention in Wasilla at one time.”
There are three names you might wish to keep in mind when raising this issue: Ayers, Rezko & Wright.
False.
False.
False. Not only is she pro-contraception herself, she has been a member for many years of the pro-life and pro-contraception Feminists For Life group. Palin made no moves on abortion or contraception as Alaska governor.
An unsubstantiated lie.
Another lie.
And Obama did drugs in college. I do not know many people who didn’t sneak alcohol when they were teens, but I do know many who never tried drugs.
Well ain’t you precious? Any ol’ bit o’ slander will do, eh? Love how Obama’s hopeychanginess has livened this campaign…
So? She isn’t the only one.
An empty assertion that ignores her fighting against Big Oil in Alaska.
Approx 2,000 acres of barren land out of millions in ANWR? Well fear not, Pelosi will “save the planet” regardless of Palin’s apparent desire to strip-mine everything…
Cool. Your point?
Wrong:
“The average public university student now takes 6.2 years to finish. The average student at a private college takes 5.3 years.”
You really expect elitism to benefit your candidate?
Both unsubstantiated charges, the former of which ignores her actions against Republican corruption in Alaska which btw included Stevens.
So Palin changed her mind on this bridge and did the right thing. Okay. What’s Obama’s excuse for a million dollars a day in earmarks while in the Senate?
Think again. This complex was pushed by the people of Wasilla in City Council and approved by them at referendum. That’s called democracy in action.
I seriously doubt that you are anything more than a liberal poser astroturfing for Obama.
Comment by John — September 16, 2008 @ 5:56 pm - September 16, 2008
Rebecca Burt , as a Christian, you owe to yourself to repent for the nasty gossiping and spreading of lies that your comment accomplished
Not that I actually believe you are a pastor’s wifel.
I really do question the soul of these people who can go into such long rants about someone they don’t know and the things they do are all lies
Why would you base your opposition to someone based on the false reperesentation of what they’re about?
It’s like saying I hate my black-haired dog because his hair is green . his hair isn’t green, yet my hate is there.
Either I’m insane or there is a reason i hate it that i am not revealing. either way shows other that somethi ng is wrong with your sanity or morals
Comment by Vince P — September 16, 2008 @ 7:42 pm - September 16, 2008
[...] I noticed that a post by Dan about Sarah Palin had been visited by what appears to be an “astroturfer”. For those [...]
Pingback by GayPatriot » “Astroturfing” Found On Gay Patriot? — September 17, 2008 @ 9:38 pm - September 17, 2008
Well they say that Pastor’s daughters are supposed to be a wild bunch, I guess that Pastors’ wives are bad bunch too.
Comment by Kit — October 7, 2008 @ 5:19 pm - October 7, 2008