You probably know Nancy Kulp as the actress who played Miss Hathaway on the The Beverly Hillbillies. Later in life, she became very involved with the Democratic Party in her home state of Pennsylvania. This led to her running for a House seat in 1984. It was an overwhelmingly Republican district, so she was never going to win it. But you know, that’s part of being a good soldier for the party: run an unwinnable campaign, because you never know, your opponent my die a week before the election. (It happens!) So she ran and lost. No big deal.
Kulp’s co-star in the series, Buddy Ebsen was very conservative. During the run of the show, Kulp and Ebsen had many fierce political arguments. I suspect it went something like this. Ebsen would say, “We ought to ship all those Irish back to Ireland!” And then Kulp would say, “You’re and idiot!” Regardless, after the show was canceled in 1971, I suspect that they didn’t talk much. But in the 1984, Ebsen inserted himself into the campaign.
He went so far as to make a radio ad for Kulp’s opponent, Bud Shuster. On the ad, Ebsen said, “Hey Nancy, I love you dearly but you’re too liberal for me—I’ve got to go with Bud Shuster.” This is strange given that Ebsen not only didn’t live in that district, he didn’t even live in the state of Pennsylvania. So he couldn’t “go” with Bud Shuster regardless. He was just being a dick in a race that Shuster was going to win as long as he didn’t die. And it is 29 years later and he’s still alive!
But it makes me wonder. Are conservatives proud of being total dicks or do they just not know any better?
They are proud of it, and expect their leaders to be total di..ks and make fun of ‘bleeding heart’ liberals because we feel for other people.
I just wish they didn’t control the conversation. What if the vegetarians(a small part of the progressive movement) took over the democratic party and insisted on closing down the government?
@Mary – Alas. But I’m pretty hopeful for the future. Over the next 20 years I think the country will get more liberal and inclusive, regardless of the parties. The Tea Party types are so desperate because they know this is their last gasp.
Yeah, I guess no democrat has EVER inserted him/her self into another state’s race to help influence the outcome.
BTW, Kulp make the remark that all the living BH cast members supported her. THAT"s when Ebsen came in to set the record straight…
@BH Fan – I can’t believe I didn’t respond to this already. As far as I can tell, she made no such remark. Some of the cast members had supported her and she said some things that seemed to imply that they were all on board. Also, she didn’t make ads making any such claims.
As for your first point: and? I call out Democrats on this site all the time. It’s just that when it comes being a jerk, there is so much more to talk about with Republicans.