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What John Wayne Can Teach Dems
NY Daily News ^ | 1/26/06 | Richard Cohen

Posted on 01/26/2006 8:08:23 AM PST by areafiftyone

The latest poll is not good for the Democrats. I am not talking here of the one showing George Bush's approval rating inching up. I'm talking about the recently released Harris Poll showing John Wayne, one of the most popular movie stars of 2005. The one thing he and the Democratic Party have in common is that they are both dead.

Wayne was the quintessential anti-Democrat. Everything he stood for - from support for the Vietnam War to antipathy to the '60s and '70s counterculture - was in consonance with GOP positions. More important, though, his iconic man-on-horseback image has been adopted by virtually the entire Republican Party.

The Harris people tell us that Wayne, tied for third with Harrison Ford, is a particular favorite of men. Tom Hanks (No. 1 two years in a row) is beloved by women, and both Wayne and Hanks are the choice of conservatives. (Liberals chose Johnny Depp).

Wayne personifies the gender gap, the virtually habitual way white men vote Republican. There are many reasons for this - Democratic feminism, affirmative action, etc. - but one of them surely is that the John Wayne-style of the GOP appeals to the cowboy in most men. Even I, Eastern dude that I be, would rather follow the Duke than, say, Johnny Depp. Sorry, my man, but that's the way it is.

Back when I met Wayne, he was a dated, pro-war caricature. It was 1977 and the Duke had somehow been invited to Jimmy Carter's preinaugural gala at the Kennedy Center. When he was through addressing the crowd, he walked right at me, looming as huge and formidable as he seemed on the screen. John Wayne did not play in Westerns. John Wayne was a Western. (Actually, he hated horses and never rode if he could possibly avoid it.)

Since that night, Ronald Reagan has come and gone. Now we have another Wayne in the White House, another rancher who doesn't ranch, a cowboy who doesn't ride.

No matter. George Bush shed his family's Eastern ways just as surely as Wayne did his prosaic Iowa upbringing as Marion Morrison, son of Clyde the pharmacist.

You can scan the length and breadth of the Democratic Party and not find any breadth, and no Wayne figure either. None of the Democratic leaders seems to have what it takes to appeal to white male voters. But if you should happen to be in room 241 of the Russell Senate Office Building, you'll find Wayne galore: pictures of John McCain in various Arizona settings. He's a twofer - a military hero and a Westerner. Democrats, beware.

Okay, Bill Clinton won twice and he ain't no cowboy. So it can be done. But in the Harris Poll, Wayne's ahead of Julia Roberts, Clint Eastwood, Mel Gibson, George Clooney, Sean Connery and Sandra Bullock. Democrats take note. The Duke is still king.

Originally published on January 25, 2006


TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: hollywood; johnwayne; lessons; lostdems; men; realmen; richardcohen
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To: areafiftyone

61 posted on 01/26/2006 9:10:09 AM PST by fredhead (The NAVY - Full Speed Ahead (or is it Astern?))
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To: newcats

Ben Johnson, Jr:

"Everybody in town's a better actor than I am, but none of them can play Ben Johnson."

But I do not know how long he lived in Hollywood.


62 posted on 01/26/2006 9:11:14 AM PST by BuglerTex
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To: bcsco

Check my tagline...


63 posted on 01/26/2006 9:11:18 AM PST by metesky ("Brethren, leave us go amongst them." Rev. Capt. Samuel Johnston Clayton - Ward Bond- The Searchers)
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To: newcats; exnavy

We're not talking about Marion Morrison, Hollywood actor.
http://www.jwplace.com/facts.html

According to the Von Hoffman brothers (`Big Damn Book of Sheer Manliness') Morrison hated blue jeans and horses . . . if someone yelled out John he didn't turn around. He responded to `Duke' or "John Wayne".
So we're (or I'm) not talking about `Hollyweird, `06', but about Old Glory and-------John Wayne.



64 posted on 01/26/2006 9:12:49 AM PST by tumblindice (Make John Wayne movies and the people will stand in line to see them)
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To: bcsco

LOL you are so right about The Searchers, and your reference, check post # 46.
Also, see this review of Wayne's performance.
http://www.libertyfilmfestival.com/libertas/index.php?p=1009#postcomment


65 posted on 01/26/2006 9:13:27 AM PST by Slicksadick (Go out on a limb........Its where the fruit is.)
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To: tumblindice

Excellent review of the movie here.
http://www.filmsite.org/sear.html


66 posted on 01/26/2006 9:15:44 AM PST by Slicksadick (Go out on a limb........Its where the fruit is.)
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To: Rummyfan

I'm not amazed at all. John Wayne, while not flawless (but,who among us are?) was one hell of a guy.They don't make 'em like that anymore.Makes me wanna cry,when I see how feminized the male gender has become.I sure am crazy about a rough-hewn,no-nonsense,American-loving guy,and John certainly was that-and so was Mr.Reagan. I sure miss them both.


67 posted on 01/26/2006 9:18:12 AM PST by gimme1ibertee
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To: gimme1ibertee

I thought Clint Eastwood would be the inheritor of Wayne's legacy but he just threw it away making "I want to be apart of the Hollyweird community" friendly films.


68 posted on 01/26/2006 9:21:02 AM PST by outofhere2
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To: tumblindice; newcats

The tone of this thread is "fun" with a great American idol. I know the difference between fantasy and reality, and that is exactly why I sometimes ignore reality. As do many others. What I don't understand is why some overly stiff people always have to PEE on someone elses parade. John Wayne is and always will be a real live cowboy to many conservatives.


69 posted on 01/26/2006 9:22:30 AM PST by exnavy (God bless Amreica)
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To: areafiftyone

I was just doing some quick research on John Wayne......

Is it true he didn't serve in the military?


70 posted on 01/26/2006 9:25:36 AM PST by WhiteGuy (Vote out all incumbents and pass term limits now.)
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To: exnavy

Agree! I have his photo on my wall.
"John Wayne" is an American hero as well as icon.
But I would disassociate him from Hollywood today: I suspect if he were 24 years old today, he'd do something else for a living.


71 posted on 01/26/2006 9:28:11 AM PST by tumblindice (Make John Wayne movies and the people will stand in line to see them)
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To: outofhere2

Agreed. Clint mellowed in his later years.
But,DAMN! I still like me some Harry Callahan!! LOL
I liked the "Every Which Way" series of movies too, but I think Clint was tailor-made for those Dirty Harry movies.
I thought John Wayne made a much better cowboy that a cop,and Clint made a much better cop than a cowboy.Just my personal observation.


72 posted on 01/26/2006 9:28:17 AM PST by gimme1ibertee (FILL YOUR HANDS,YOU SONOFAB@#CH!!!)
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To: Slicksadick

Thanks for the trivia. I didn't know about Olive. "The Searchers" is my favorite Duke flick.


73 posted on 01/26/2006 9:28:28 AM PST by katykelly (Long suffering Husker)
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To: Slicksadick

The Searchers?


74 posted on 01/26/2006 9:30:13 AM PST by gr8eman (The hyena hunts, but he does not bargain-hunt.)
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To: areafiftyone
But if you should happen to be in room 241 of the Russell Senate Office Building, you'll find Wayne galore: pictures of John McCain in various Arizona settings. He's a twofer - a military hero and a Westerner. Democrats, beware

Military hero? How is a POW classified in the same ranks as an Audey Murphy or George Patton? He got shot down his first flight out, and since he has a habit of selling out his party, no telling who he sold out under Viet Cong torture. Hero my @ss!

75 posted on 01/26/2006 9:30:14 AM PST by Bommer (Ted Kennedy - Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life!)
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To: gimme1ibertee

Wayne was great in McQ!


76 posted on 01/26/2006 9:31:45 AM PST by gr8eman (The hyena hunts, but he does not bargain-hunt.)
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To: gr8eman

Yes.


77 posted on 01/26/2006 9:33:00 AM PST by Slicksadick (Go out on a limb........Its where the fruit is.)
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To: tumblindice

You get it, to bad newcats is so blind.


78 posted on 01/26/2006 9:34:20 AM PST by exnavy (God bless Amreica)
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To: Slicksadick
Absolutely right. This reviewer hits the nail on the head. The depth of his fall into cruelty which Wayne took the character Ethan Edwards, and then brought him back from the brink of no return, always amazes me. This alone makes the movie great!

Kevin Costner's role in 'Open Range' and Clint Eastwood's role in 'Unforgiven' in some ways remind me of this. But the depth isn't there; at least on display as it is in 'The Searchers'.

79 posted on 01/26/2006 9:38:27 AM PST by bcsco ("The Constitution is not a suicide pact"...A. Lincoln)
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To: YankeeGirl
Few actors embody the heroic spirit like John Wayne, whose career starring in westerns and war movies made him the ultimate American icon. Born in Winterset, Iowa, as Marion Michael Morrison, "Duke" (the nickname was after a pet Airedale) started his career as a bit actor in westerns.
80 posted on 01/26/2006 9:39:48 AM PST by apackof2 (You can stand me up at the gates of hell, I'll stand my ground and I won’t back down)
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