A Puzzlement

[stoutfellow]

The following is not intended entirely seriously.

There is a general perception that Hollywood and the USAn entertainment industry in general are hotbeds of political liberalism. I find it striking, therefore, that all the actors who have been elected to office, at any level, that I can bring to mind have been Republicans.

Think about it. George Murphy. Ronald Reagan. Fred Grandy. Fred Thompson (OK, that's a marginal case; he was a lawyer and a politico before he was an actor). Sonny Bono. Clint Eastwood. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Am I missing anybody?

If you extend the definition of "entertainer" to include athletes - not a notoriously liberal bunch - the picture changes a little. Jim Bunning, Vinegar Bend Mizell, Bob Mathias, J. C. Watts, Tom Osborne - all Republicans. Bill Bradley was a Democrat, of course, and Jesse Ventura ran on the Reform ticket. Does Gerald Ford count? Byron White comes to mind - he was a Democrat, though he proved to be quite conservative on the Supreme Court - but he wasn't elected to anything.

Anybody else?

Comments

[bibliotrope.livejournal.com]

Lynn Swann is running for governor of Pennsylvania as a Republican. That adds him to three people already on your list who played pro sports in Pittsburgh. The others being Vinegar Bend Mizell (I think his given name was Wilbur; he was on the 1960 team that beat the Yankees in the World Series, and quit baseball to run for Congress soon after) and Jim Bunning who played baseball for the Pirates (though Bunning is better known for his stints with Philadelphia and Detroit), and "Whizzer" White, who played football for the Steelers when they were still called the Pirates. (I think it's how he earned the money for law school, though the pros didn't pay nearly as much then as now.)

Alan Page, formerly of the Minnesota Vikings, is a state judge now, but I'm not sure which party he belongs to. Minnesota is kind of weird about parties anyway, which reminds me of Jesse Ventura, if you want to count him. (The eternal question: is pro wrestling really a sport?)

[sraun]

Actors tend to support their politico or cause of choice, rather than running for office themselves. Remember what's-her-name who was so strongly anti-Vietname War, who went to Hanoi?

[oilhistorian.livejournal.com]

Some more fodder:

While not a politician per se, Charlton Heston is certainly very active w/the NRA.

Steve Largent (Seattle Seahawks WR) is a Republican Congressman from OK.

Richard Petty ran for office in NC as a Republican -- can't recall if he won.

[dan-ad-nauseam.livejournal.com]

I think I have a counterexample. Rep. Ben Jones (D-GA).

Everybody Loves a Rebel

[carbonelle.livejournal.com]

Or at least, they do in the U.S.: The fella' bucking The System, even if that system is just the Hollywood Establishment.

Besides, we know that any Hollywood actor who comes out as a Republican has guts to spare [g,d &r]

Seriously, though, the times they (may be) a-changin' (http://www.city-journal.org/html/15_4_urbanities-conservatives.html)