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Monday, Nov 9, 2009
With the help of his son from Hollywood, Nick Clooney is campaigning for a congressional seat in a conservative Kentucky district. How far can star power carry them?
Dec 23, 2003 | In "Three Kings," director David O. Russell's sardonic 1999 treatment of the first war with Iraq -- the one where George Bush I didn't get Saddam -- Hollywood mega-star George Clooney plays a cynical special forces officer disillusioned with a mission that's long on military muscle but short on a real objective.
"I don't even know what we did here," Clooney's character, Maj. Archie Gates, loudly laments to his superior just after the Americans chase the Iraqis out of Kuwait. "Tell me what we did here."
"What do you want to do," the officer shouts back, "occupy Iraq and do Vietnam all over again? Is that what you want? Is that your brilliant idea?"
"Fuck it," character Gates finally concedes. "I'm retiring anyway."
You'll hear that same note of skepticism -- minus the profanity -- from Clooney's father, Nick, a congenial Ohio Valley media star who's running for Congress as a Democrat in Kentucky's conservative 4th Congressional District.
"We sent 300,000 of our best and brightest on a snipe hunt," the elder Clooney says of the current situation in Iraq. "I seem to hear the people in our administration saying one thing and meaning something entirely different. When we say 'weapons of mass destruction and imminent danger,' what we really mean is 'not a sniff of weapons of mass destruction and apparently no imminent danger.' Saying something does not necessarily make it true, and simply saying it more often does not make it truer."
Like son, like father? Life and politics are definitely imitating art in this staunchly conservative swath of northern Kentucky. A Clooney is bashing a Bush -- only this time, it's for real. And though the election is still more than 10 months away, the congressional race here is already attracting national attention as a match-up of Hollywood star power vs. tough, homegrown conservative strength.
By all accounts, the Clooneys are aristocracy in this part of Kentucky. Nathan Smith, Democratic chairman of Kenton County, the largest county in the district, calls them "the Kennedys of Kentucky" (though that certainly isn't the compliment it once was). Nick's sister, Rosemary, was one of the iconic American singers and actresses of the post-World War II era; she starred with Bing Crosby in "White Christmas," and she remains a legend to older folks here. As a newspaper columnist and veteran television personality, Nick Clooney, now 69, has been a star in his own right. And young George is one of the globe's most eligible bachelors.
He'll almost certainly be back here in the months to come to help his dad campaign and raise money. But early indications are that President George W. Bush may visit the district to campaign on behalf of the Republican nominee to replace U.S. Rep. Ken Lucas, a conservative Blue Dog Democrat who's retiring after three terms in office.
Everyone loves a movie star, but whether Hollywood liberalism will play along the southern banks of the Ohio River is very much in dispute.
Kentucky's 4th Congressional District extends from the West Virginia line to the suburbs of Louisville, encompassing affluent and growing suburbs, urban neighborhoods, rural farming communities and the rolling foothills of Appalachia. Drive 25 minutes south from downtown Cincinnati and it's like you're deep in the Kentucky mountains -- a different universe altogether -- where the politics can be tougher than the terrain.
Despite the district's eclectic character, there's a common thread that weaves through all politics here: A devotion to conservative principles and personalities. It's true that Democrats far outnumber Republicans in the district, but that's misleading. Democrats here aren't like Democrats in California or New York. This place was never liberal -- Rudy Giuliani isn't conservative enough for the people of northern Kentucky. High-profile court and legislative battles have been fought here over the display of the Ten Commandments in courthouses and other public buildings, and since the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, people here increasingly have voted for Republicans.
Last November, Republican Ernie Fletcher won the governor's race by 10 percentage points, giving the Kentucky GOP its first gubernatorial victory since 1971 and empowering the state party like never before. Not only have Democrats been getting whupped in state and federal races, they've even been losing the county courthouse seats they've held for decades.
Perhaps its no surprise, then, that local Republicans don't seem especially worried by the Clooney luster. Republicans are already taking as many shots at the son as they are at the dad. They sneer and call him "a Hollywood liberal," the ultimate political putdown from a conservative Kentucky Republican.
"I was an Army Ranger and soldier in real life," said Republican candidate Geoff Davis, a West Point grad who is back in the race after failing to take the seat last year. "His son only played one in the movies."
