Regards, Ivan
Posted on 10/17/2004 4:37:28 PM PDT by MadIvan
On the Kentucky campaign trail, where replicas of the 10 Commandments decorate lawns, being the father of George Clooney could lose you the election. David Rennie reports from Vanceburg
Were it not for his dark family secret, Nick Clooney - the Democratic contender for one of Kentucky's last Democratic-held seats in Congress - would be a near-perfect candidate.
It takes a rare breed of Democrat to survive in the American South. In that deeply conservative region, politicians must bow to a creed of God, guns (good) and gays (bad).
Mr Clooney is an anti-abortion, pro-gun army veteran, happily married to his first and only wife. A snowy-haired man of 70, he is a splendid old ham on the campaign trail, spinning yarns about his grandpa and apologising for too much "speechifying".
He was born and raised in his prospective district; a misty, mellow slice of northern Kentucky, where tobacco dries in weathered grey barns and hounds snooze on porches.
Showing up the loneliness of today's Southern Democrat, Mr Clooney does not attack President George W Bush on the stump, and does not even breathe the name John Kerry.
Yet, to many conservative voters, Mr Clooney cannot overcome a terrible family shame: his son is George Clooney, the Hollywood star.
During their steady march to power in the South, Republicans have long used social and religious "wedge" issues to prise white conservatives from their historic loyalty to the Democrats.
In this latest election, Republicans have repeatedly used "Hollywood" as a shorthand for liberal extremism, helped by shrill outbreaks of Bush-bashing and the anti-war activism of such entertainers as Barbra Streisand, Susan Sarandon and Michael Moore.
Nick Clooney's Republican opponents have leapt on his family ties, calling the 4th District race a contest of "Hollywood versus the heartland".
They accused Mr Clooney of being bankrolled by "Hollywood liberals", after his son attended private fund-raising events for his father in California, New York, Washington DC and Kentucky.
George Clooney finally wrote an open letter to a local newspaper, declaring that he and his father disagreed on many issues and asking voters to judge his father on his own merits.
Today, with just weeks until the election, the 4th District race is proving desperately close; one of only a handful of Congressional cliff-hangers in the whole country.
George Clooney, star of the television series ER and films such as Intolerable Cruelty and O Brother, Where Art Thou? has fans in Kentucky, not least in his tiny home town of Augusta. But he has not campaigned in public for his father. He is not even named or pictured in his father's biographical pamphlets.
Addressing a packed "town hall meeting" for voters in Vanceburg, a small town on the banks of the Ohio River, the elder Mr Clooney talked about his wife, his grandfather, both sisters, a grandmother and several cousins.
He reminisced at length about his sister Rosemary, the singing and acting star of another age, and passed round photographs of her as a young girl. He did not mention his son once.
Talking to The Telegraph afterwards, Mr Clooney was indignant at the idea that politics explained his reticence. He just happened to have pictures of his sister with him, and not any of his son, he insisted.
His son had offered to come down and walk the streets with him, Mr Clooney said, but he told him not to come.
"My son is working for a living," he said. "I said to him, 'You're still building your career'. We speak three times a week."
Mr Clooney insisted he could count "on the fingers of one hand" the number of times that his Hollywood connection had come up with voters.
But Dewayna Adams, chairman of the local Lewis County Democratic Party, reported that "Hollywood" was her biggest problem in Vanceburg, the kind of town where glass fibre replicas of the Ten Commandments tablet stand on front lawns.
"Round here 'Hollywood' means partying, same-sex marriage," said Miss Adams, wrinkling her nose. "Nick is a conservative Democrat, but what's hurting him is the Hollywood thing. People say, 'Oh, he's got Hollywood ties'. "
Across the district, voters agreed that the Clooney campaign had to play down its star power. "They shouldn't use him to help his dad," said Debbie Fultz, a Democrat from Campbell County. "George Clooney is more Hollywood than Kentucky now."
Bill Gronek, a Republican, said: "People are fed up with Hollywood types telling them what to do."
Wanda Gallenstein expressed sympathy for the elder Clooney, widely known in Kentucky after decades as a local television newsreader and newspaper columnist.
"Everyone loves Nick Clooney here. I believe he's probably a good man," she said. "I might have crossed over for him, but I can't take a chance." The danger lay with his son, she explained.
"The movies George Clooney makes are dirty. I don't think Hollywood people have any values. They're for abortion and gay marriage.
"It's a shame. Nick Clooney would have had a lot better chance without his son."
Regards, Ivan
Ping!
I know how the people in Kentucky feel...never watched ER or any of George's movies...his mouth and attitude got in my way...
Son is not like father. This is a case where the old saying, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree," is not true. I wish people would judge Nick Clooney on his own merits, and not by that liberal son of his.
His son is a "F.A.G.".
I will admit I had written him off as a left wing nut job like his son-I am surprised to read differently and I feel bad I judged him by George.
So the question is- why is he a Democrat?
Maybe I'm wrong, but if Nick is pro-life, 2nd amendment, etc., ....where did his son get so much baggage....
...I don't think this apple fell too far from the tree....
...I think whoever wrote this piece is trying to hoodwink the good folks of Kentucky.
Doubtful. It was published in England.
Regards, Ivan
Is that what you are saying....
...is he a southern good ole boy wolf in sheep's clothing?
...you know, the good folks of Kentucky who have strong values, love mom, apple pie and go to church regularly....
..and if it wasn't for his pesky son...(& who knows where he got his ideas!)...
..old Nick wouldn't have such a hard time campaigning for the vote.
I believe that post #10 would help answer your question about why Clooney is a Democrat...
Good article and it is interesting how in at least some parts Hollywood has had a detrimental effect.
Click on a link below and listen to Nick discuss issues facing you.
Biography: My Old Kentucky Home
Creating Jobs For Kentucky
Education: Making "No Child Left Behind" A Reality
Improving & Expanding Access to Healthcare
Keeping Our Promise to America's Veterans
Taking Kentucky Values to Congress
The Tobacco Buyout & Transition Farming
If Clooney is such a God fearing good old time American Democrat, then how did he raise such a bum for a son.
I disagree with my father on many key issues. Please vote for him.
- George Pinko.
What kind of logic is that?
And his son, George, is a big supporter of 'South Punk'. For some on Free Republic, that's more than enough to win their vote.
His aunt Rosemary maybe?
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