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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAshley Judd's Arsenal...Mock her at your own risk, Mitch.
Ashley Judd's Arsenal She's a Hollywood feminist, but also a Southern sweetheart. Mock her at your own risk, Mitch.
BY MOLLY REDDEN
The last time Ashley Judd made headlines as an actress, it was March 2012 and she was responding to plastic surgery gossip. This was no boilerplate denial. Speculation about her puffy face had trailed her as she promoted the debut of her ABC drama "Missing," and Judd, in a Daily Beast essay that went viral, wrote that "the conversation was pointedly nasty, gendered, and misogynistic and embodies what all girls and women in our culture, to a greater or lesser degree, endure every day, in ways both outrageous and subtle." To the lady blogs, her words were catnip. "I've never thought much about Ashley Judd," Jezebel's Lindy West wrote."{S}he's pretty, she seems nice, her pores look really smallbut it turns out she's also a smart, bold, kickass feminist." But when she discussed the whole episode on the more staid "Rock Center with Brian Williams," Judd looked vulnerable. "I have never been so genuinely surprised in all my born days," she told Williams, her usually level voice warbling. The idea that a subtle change to her facial featuresthat "maybe I had somethin' salty, as we say in the South, and got all swelled up"had invited so much finger-wagging, she said, "hurt me. It really hurt my feelings."
A feminist who can summon the sudsy enthusiasm of Jezebel, but also channel genteel, Southern sensibilities? If only she'd run for office! Which, of course, is exactly what she's considering: a challenge of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. The rumors began last fall, and only grew after she didn't deny them. When sources confirmed as much, two polls were promptly commissionedone by PPP showing that she was the preferred candidate of Kentucky Democrats, and another by McConnell himself. His campaign's internal poll, readily shared with the press, was less newsworthy for its results than the fear it betrayed.2 That fear has since spread. Karl Rove's super PAC, American Crossroads, released an ad last week featuring photos of Judd sauntering down the red carpet, a clip of her saying "Tennessee is home," and her effusive praise of President Barack Obama, who lost Kentucky by 23 points. Rove has promised there's more to come.
They have reason to be scared: A recent PPP poll found that McConnell is the nation's least popular senator, judged by his constituents, and in January a Louisville Courier-Journal poll found that 44 percent of Kentucky voters withheld their support of him until his opponent is known; 34 percent planned to vote against him, and only 17 percent for him. But Judd would face obstacles of her own in the deep-red state. She is, after all, a Democrat, a Hollywood star, an environmentalist, and an abortion rights agitator.3 But it is clear, from her response to the plastic surgery rumors, that Judd is adept at turning cheap personal shots into media-resonant strikes on her opponents. It's not difficult to imagine her, in the face of a GOP attack on her jet-setting celebrity, finding just the right measure of righteous disgust to make McConnell, or her other potential opponent, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, appear sexistespecially since they're already giving her material. "Ashley Judd is a famous actress, she's an attractive woman, and presents herself well, and from what I understand is articulate," Paul said recently, when asked to evaluate Judd as a foe. "But the thing is, she doesn't really represent Kentucky."
In fact, Judd, a diehard Kentucky basketball fan, can trace her family back eight generations in the Bluegrass State. She lived there for a big chunk of her vagabond childhood, and it was where her mother and half-sister kicked off the famous '80s country music duo The Judds. Judd's 2011 memoir, All That Is Bitter and Sweet, is thick with gauzy memories of growing up in the state. As a child, she writes, "I recall looking out the window at redbud, dogwood, daffodils, irises, and pom-pom bushes, knowing exactly what heaven must look like: a spring day in Kentucky." She is adroit at drawing upon those romantic recollections to explain the roots of her liberal convictions. The dreams of her parents, "small-town kids from rural eastern Kentucky," are waylaid by teenage pregnancy and the social pressure to marry. A backcountry drive to her grandmother's house in Black Log Hollow, which an "almost mystical sense of place" compels her to make, is preceded by a plane flight over "catastrophic mountaintop removal coal-mining sites." Her unofficial major at the University of Kentucky is rabble-rousing, "or at least as much rabble-rousing as one could do and still belong to an old, elite social sorority." And her heroes? "Jesus has always been my favorite radical." It's enough to make you almost believe, when she boasts that her eleven-city AIDS awareness bus tour with Bono bypassed "the media-rich, oh-so-sophisticated East Coast and West Coast" in favor of the American heartland, that she's a bona fide resident of the mythical "real America."
more...
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/112420/ashley-judd-senate-kentucky-actress-makes-mcconnell-sweat#
hedgehog
(36,286 posts)Voice for Peace
(13,141 posts)and I'd love to see a whole bunch more celebrities run for
Congress.. especially including more comedians.
Just serve for a few terms, change the laws, then get
out and make more movies.
riqster
(13,986 posts)..and read the whole article. Awesome. Thanks babylonsister for posting (enjoy those Santa Ana winds again).
sheshe2
(83,791 posts)I may not be able to vote for her, however if she runs, I will be contributing to her campaign!
Thank you for the update on Ashley...keep them coming!
Cha
(297,322 posts)afraid Very Afraid. And they should be.
Thanks babylonsistah
WCGreen
(45,558 posts)Benton D Struckcheon
(2,347 posts)AzDar
(14,023 posts)calimary
(81,322 posts)DonCoquixote
(13,616 posts)that she has been active as a liberal for years:
from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashley_Judd
Ashley Judd's humanitarian work has revolved around becoming a global ambassador for YouthAIDS, a prevention program under the Population Services International. She has been a member of their Board of Directors since 2004, also. Judd has travelled with YouthAIDS to places affected by illness and poverty such as Cambodia, Kenya, Rwanda, and many others.[27]
Inspired by her travels, which allowed her to witness the life of the poor and uneducated, she has since become an advocate for preventing poverty and promoting awareness internationally. She has met with political and religious leaders, heads of states, diplomats, and leaders on behalf of the deprived to convey the message to those who have the power to bring about political and social change.[27]
Judd has also narrated three documentaries for YouthAIDS which aired internationally on the Discovery Channel, in National Geographic, and on VH1.
In 2011, Judd joined the Leadership Council of the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW).[28]
Other organizations Judd has been involved with include the Women for Women International, and Equality Now, along with other non-governmental organizations which center around bringing attention to social, educational, health, economic, cultural, and financial funding of the unfortunate.[27]
In other words, she is no political tenderfoot.
sheshe2
(83,791 posts)Little Star
(17,055 posts)Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)1620rock
(2,218 posts)tammywammy
(26,582 posts)Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)tammywammy
(26,582 posts)Honeycombe8
(37,648 posts)of her mom and sister. I think they were big Bush supporters.
spooky3
(34,458 posts)McConnell has that in the can.
Seriously, I would think it would be hard to be going through a divorce and planning and executing what is sure to be a nasty campaign. But I hope if now is not the best time for her, that she will consider running at a later time.
sheshe2
(83,791 posts)spooky3
(34,458 posts)PufPuf23
(8,791 posts)Always have liked her talent as an artist.
She is one fine human being.
mgc1961
(1,263 posts)littlemissmartypants
(22,692 posts)Rule the world. The men just haven't all figured that out yet.
Love, Peace and Shelter. lmsp
Kath1
(4,309 posts)they never will.
Go Ashley!
libodem
(19,288 posts)Kath1
(4,309 posts)Or to be mute on the issues. But no. She is a passionate and articulate advocate for women's reproductive rights.
I hope she decides to run and I hope she wins. I'll gladly send her a donation.
Her election would send a powerful message.
Run, Ashley, run!!!
colsohlibgal
(5,275 posts)I can't wait for Ashley to debate The Human Turtle, she'll rip him and his party to shreds.
Thinking of her and Elizabeth Warren both in the Senate makes me giddy.
niyad
(113,344 posts)smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)I wish I could vote for her!
ReRe
(10,597 posts)Thanks, babylonsister. Not well tonight...will read tomorrow! Go Ashley!
jonthebru
(1,034 posts)Not to disparage turtles , of course.
NBachers
(17,120 posts)A Nation of Donations and Committed Dedication
Will beat Mitch McConnell and his anal obfuscation
Notafraidtoo
(402 posts)And half the democratic party here is scared of her too which is unfortunate. I think shes perfect but we have plenty of DINO that will railroad her too. shes going to have a fight on her hand's from both party's. I will say one thing KY Basketball fans here are ravenous and they see her on TV cheering for the team She just might get a lot of Indy's or First time voters to put her over.
babylonsister
(171,070 posts)Someone needs to take McConnell down, and no one's doing a bang up job of that so far.
Notafraidtoo
(402 posts)Anti labor,Anti gay,pro religion and government mixing democrats..they love to complain about liberal Democrats and how awesome it is they can work so easily with the republicans ..its cause at best they are moderate republicans not democrats.
helveticas
(35 posts)trusty elf
(7,394 posts)[IMG][/IMG]
Diyames
(30 posts)I fell in love with her when I saw her on "Star Trek : the Next Generation" in 1992 (or maybe '91). I don't know what it was about her, but she stood out immediately as a very real person in a very unreal kind of environment (TV show). I've been impressed by her acting and choices of roles ever since. Her modest elegance and charm would be an asset as a politician, and her intelligence and common sense would surely serve Kentucky better than the turtle. I wish her the best.
lupinella
(365 posts)MotherPetrie
(3,145 posts)Carolina
(6,960 posts)candidate than Arnold Muscleman or the late Sonny Bono!
And for that matter, better and more wrothy of serious consideration than Michelle Bachman and all those idiot Rape-publicans!
MotherPetrie
(3,145 posts)what I considered to be extremely lacking candidates. Doesn't mean others don't think they are just great and actually elect them.
tavalon
(27,985 posts)I'm asking for real.
MotherPetrie
(3,145 posts)But I just can't see her in the Senate. Her response to the speculation about her puffy faced pictures, which was acclaimed by many, was not acclaimed by me. It turned me off big time. Celebrities regularly get trashed for their appearance and invite speculation about plastic surgery and botox when their looks change -- many far more insultingly and for far longer than Judd was. It's not right, but it goes with the job. To me her response to it indicated that she was thin-skinned, and that is no way to be for a Senate run. Imagine if Hillary Clinton had a meltdown every time she got publicly trashed, and she's been trashed infinitely more and far more personally and viciously than Judd ever has or ever would be. (Just using Clinton as an example here.)
Hissyspit
(45,788 posts)She had legitimate points to make about the shallowness of celebrity gossip, and, frankly, there has have been all kinds of massively ridiculous humans in the Senate.
She, knows publicity, would have advisors, and would be a great Senator.
MotherPetrie
(3,145 posts)when it affected HER, and really, the shallowness of celebrity gossip is hardly a world-class problem to begin with. For THAT to be the issue that made her speak out makes me think she's every bit as shallow as the issue itself.
Being an effective senator requires more than knowing publicity, and it's not her advisors who would be elected, it would be SHE, if she ran and won. She may be a great Senator and she may be a shitty one. There's no way to know in advance, but from what I know of her at the moment, I hope she doesn't get the nomination. I don't think she has a prayer of getting elected.
Hissyspit
(45,788 posts)You completely missed it. What is your REAL problem with her?
MotherPetrie
(3,145 posts)She was trying to change the subject from herself. Never heard her speak about the issue until it affected her.
IMO she is a vain, thin-skinned, self-absorbed, Hollywood actress who made it on her family's name and now her Hollywood shelf life is just about up, she's got to find some way to stay in the public eye and receive that public adulation, especially now she's dumped her racer hubby and won't be sure to be seen sobbing in joy in the winners circle the next time he comes in first.
No, I don't want her, I think she's a lightweight in a potential field of what need to be very credible heavyweights. I think she is dragging out the decision just to stay in the public eye a little longer, and I'll be very surprised if she actually runs. If she does, I don't think she has what it takes to win.
Moses2SandyKoufax
(1,290 posts)She didn't speak out against "objectification" and the "shallowness of celebrity gossip" in the late 90's when she was younger, in demand, and on the cover of numerous supermarket check-out publications. I agree, totally self-serving and shallow.
Also, her comments about rap and hip-hop were nothing more than pseudo-intellectual psychobabble. Pretty much like everything else this walking word-a-day calendar offers her opinion on.
tavalon
(27,985 posts)I hadn't thought about that aspect. I think, though, that she could train herself out of that.
malaise
(269,054 posts)you're already a loser. Rove is a washed up ReTHUG scumbag who should answer to the courts in Ohio.
Helen Reddy
(998 posts)en garde Mr. Turtle!
Fantastic Anarchist
(7,309 posts)... need I say more?
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)but of the huge, newly formed Progressive Coalition who has named him as a target on which they will spend lots of money, (having learned from Republicans finally how to do it) to remove. So any Democrat who runs against him this time will not be depending only the Rahm Emanuels who often did not support Liberal candidates, she will have this coalition of dozens of organizations that actually WANT Liberal/Progressives in the Senate and have already gotten off to a great start financially.
I would love to see her beat the Turtle and not only rid the Senate of his horrible influence, but debunk the notion the Democrats can't win in Kentucky.
Anywho6
(461 posts)Someone close to me was involved in this meeting with Ashley Judd on Friday. She was hugely impressed--"smart, courageous and compassionate" were words she used to describe her. This could be huge for my home state of Kentucky.
[link:http://www.whas11.com/news/politics/Sources-Judd-leaning-toward-Senate-bid-decision-by-Derby-Day-191470551.html|
babylonsister
(171,070 posts)a Dem governor? I used to date a very conservative man from KY but the majority of his family were Dems (something he failed to tell me at the time). So the state could be a toss-up, or am I delusional? That could be also.
Anywho6
(461 posts)The majority of Kentucky Governors have been Democrats. I have been in California for 15 years, but all of my family is in Kentucky. I was born and raised in Louisville which I always found to be quite liberal--the atmosphere is a combination of Southern hospitality and Midwest charm. But drive 35 minutes south of Louisville and it's completely different. It's interesting, too, because the next largest city is Lexington and, from my experience (and based on what my youngest sister who lives there tells me), it's very conservative. My opinion is, it's a left-leaning state more than a toss-up.
Notafraidtoo
(402 posts)Most elected democrats here are more Conservative then Scott Brown. shes only going to get half the Ky party's support in fact they have already been on the local NPR station saying shes to liberal to win the nomination..Our Dem Governor openly shunned Obama and bragged about attempting to balance the budget by laying off teachers and government workers.
Half the Ky Democratic party are truly moderate republicans on almost all issues. With that said the state has the numbers to send her if they vote but she is going to need a lot of national support,she wont get much help from the Dem's here.I think the toughest fight will be the dem primary.
On Edit I think Yarmath is pretty awesome but before him We had a very pro bush Conservative Ann Northup that won two terms( very nasty woman)and she needed the most liberal voters in the entire state (Louisville) to win. It sucks but Kentucky is far from blue.
Benton D Struckcheon
(2,347 posts)...She needs to decide sooner, so that if she says no there's still some chance of getting someone else and giving that someone else enough time to raise funds and all that. It's May 3 and 4 according to what I just saw via googling. That's 2 and a half months from now.
tavalon
(27,985 posts)She's also a policy wonk, like those of us on this site. She's a good choice to run for anything but she's good enough to run for Senate. How else is she going to make her way to the White House, and she will be going to the White House soon enough. She's just that good. The last one I was this impressed by, I told my husband he would be President one day. I didn't realize that day would be in 2008, but I knew it was coming. I predicted Weiner, too but he couldn't keep it buttoned up. I hope I'm still alive to see President Judd.
PotatoChip
(3,186 posts)but was even more impressed when I watched an interview she did with Tavis Smiley. She'd make an excellent candidate.
snagglepuss
(12,704 posts)TheKentuckian
(25,026 posts)Probably my favorite living person that I don't actually know.
tavalon
(27,985 posts)it isn't for the faint of heart but you are a steel magnolia so I have no fear. You are also so smart, you can run rings around Mitch McConnell. I will support you in any way I can. Please, Ashley Judd, make your momma proud (like she isn't already!)
mtasselin
(666 posts)Please run, I will contribute to your campaign. Our country needs some sanity brought back to it, and currently Kentucky has two U.S. Senators that do not have any common sense, sanity, and they don't give a shit what happens to our country. So please run Ashley run.
upi402
(16,854 posts)I just donated to Elizabeth Warren and she's not in my state either.
Welcome to DU!
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)Go Ashley!