Scott Baio Is A Republican?!

Okay okay how could a man-nanny playing actor who starred in Happy Days with Henry Winkler and who dates all of Hollywood's most beautiful famed women... how does he turn out Republican? And what does that have to do with Election 2008?

Follow past this delicious photo... if you can... mmmmmm...

From Wikipedia:

Unlike many of his fellow actors in Hollywood, Baio is a very conservative Republican. He was a member of Young Americans for Freedom. He was one of the famous guests in attendance at President Ronald Reagan's state funeral. The New York Daily News published Michelle Caruso's article "A Goodbye as the Sun Sets in the West" (dated June 12, 2004), which mentioned Baio, who had been seated near former UK Prime Minister and Baroness Margaret Thatcher: "Scott Baio, who played Chachi on the hit sitcom Happy Days, said: President Reagan made me feel proud to be an American. Today, I feel sadness."

What does this have to do with anything? Who in our current crop of candidates, regardless of party, has the capacity to make most Americans PROUD again to be (U.S.) American??

That's an extremely compelling frame to understand something at the heart of mythical "Reaganesque" qualities.

Okay, after FDR, it seems probably the next really "proud to be an American" president was JFK.  

Then:

Johnson? No.

Nixon? No. Hell no.

Ford? No.

Carter? Such a nice man, but no (at that time).

Reagan? For most people who bought into the myth (right or wrong), the effect was yes.

Bush the Daddy:  No.

Clinton:  Okay, okay but let's just acknowledge that while many liked him personally, many wingnuts hated him with froth at the mouth. In balance, though he made me proud, overall probably a "No."

Bush the Pissant: Oh lord no, baby. Lord NO! Oh what a catastrophe, he's what has made us Americans wear Canadian flags on our bags when we fly internationally to keep people off our backs. Oh gawd....

SO THEN... it's been since JFK that most of the nation came together with pride for their leader other than perhaps Reagan? How is that?

Well we need someone -- ESPECIALLY NOW -- to help us be proud Americans again. Who can do that? Sorry, I don't see it in Hillary but things could change. Obama? Certainly promising. John Edwards? Promising. Anybody else? No. I think no.

WHO WILL MAKE US PROUD AGAIN, PROUD LIKE SCOTT BAIO??

•  He has his own reality show coming out.

  No word if Erin Moran will be included in the cast.

  by Geekesque on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 07:33:11 AM PDT

  •  guess he has his "own reality"

    if he is a Repug

    by libertyisliberal on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 07:36:56 AM PDT

  •  He was in attendance when Fonzi

    jumped the shark.

    by Yoshimi on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 07:42:58 AM PDT

    •  He was...

      the shark, on that show.

      by Tonedevil on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 08:08:34 AM PDT

      •  always thought of him as Robin

        To Winkler's Batman.
        Vague sort of boy toy vibe there...

        by kamarvt on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 08:14:58 AM PDT

  •  For some reason

    a few neurons in my brain are wasted on the trivia that Erin Moran became an extreme born-again Christian, to the extent that she turned her back on the entertainment industry, even refusing to be on one of thos Happy Days comeback specials.  I'd much rather know something useful but there it is.  

    by Gator Keyfitz on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 08:09:18 AM PDT

    •  Hmm

      Her and Kirk Cameron too. What's up with that?

      Hey, wasn't Willie Aames "Bibleman"? What was going on on the "Charles in Charge" set?

      Oh Bob Loblaw, how can you let me down like this?

      by MiklCraw4d on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 09:46:39 AM PDT

  •  Make sense why

    he is emotionally stunted.

    by MadAsHellMaddie on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 08:25:28 AM PDT

  •  Unless he's naked

    And I realize he's like 47, but what a fine man, unless he's naked I don't think it will be interesting. Most people aged 30 yo and younger don't even know who he is! How wild can it be? Hmmmm... mmmmmmmm...

    Oh yeah, tips & flames. Thanks.

    by TX Unmuzzled on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 08:41:30 AM PDT

    •  It's a dating reality show.

      As in romantic stuff, not as in "you're really dating yourself by making a Charles in Charge reference."

      by Geekesque on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 08:43:14 AM PDT

  •  Well, that explains his GOP connection

    They live in their own reality, outside the real world.

    by Omen on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 08:46:38 AM PDT

  •  Gross.

    I saw a commercial for that. I didn't think one could go much lower than a VH1 reality show... but learning that he's a Republican, geez! And to think that I liked him so much on Charles in Charge! What a mess...

    by Potus2020 on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 08:58:08 AM PDT

  •  Joanie will be there!

    Erin Moran is on at least one show, in which he visits his past girlfriends and they helpfully tell him why he's a complete asshole.  She, in particular, looks disgusted by him.

    Hey, CSPAN was on a commercial break, I saw the show's trailer.

    Oops--I mean PBS was on a commercial break.  Yeah, that's it.

    by rocketito on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 09:46:14 AM PDT

•  That must have been a low moment for Thatcher.

  Seated next to some overly tanned, washed out actor who's probably begging Winkler and Howard for a reunion tv movie.

  Interesting quote from Thatcher after Reagen's death: "Ronnie's more himself than ever".

  by tigercourse on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 07:36:02 AM PDT

•  Bobcat Goldthwaite

  Said Scott Baio is the anti-christ......I have no reason to doubt him.

  by Perdurabo on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 07:36:14 AM PDT

  •  Comment voted

    best of thread by picky, picky 4Freedom.

    by 4Freedom on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 07:57:20 AM PDT

  •  Firesign Theatre!

    I'd forgotten all about them! "We're All Bozos On This Bus" was a classic! ;-)

    by Snud on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 08:40:23 AM PDT

•  I guess this might upset

  some of the ladies, but the straight males really don't care too much about Scott Baio

  Maybe it is a good thing to have a few Hollywooders on the Repug side?  So we Dems are not so "associated" with Hollywood?

  by libertyisliberal on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 07:36:24 AM PDT

  •  Actually, this gay male

    doesn't find him the least bit attractive either.

    by corvo on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 07:49:22 AM PDT

    •  This straight female has always found Scotty

      a lightweight and as unappealing as the usual class clown.

      by 4Freedom on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 07:55:45 AM PDT

      •  He Shoulda...

        ... stayed with Joanie.  The boy blew a good thing.  ;-)

        by Kevin in Long Beach on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 08:19:53 AM PDT

  •  Better to just question why

    association with Hollywood is such a bad thing.

    Always good to just out and out fight against contrived GOP/MSM frames.

    by DemDachshund on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 08:10:11 AM PDT

  •  And since his new reality show...

    is about the fact that he's a serial loser in the relationship department, one must guess that females aren't all that enthralled by him, either.

    This is what happens when we don't make "child stars" go to school and interact with other real children.

    by kmiddle on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 08:16:50 AM PDT

    •  he had a long run

      banging blondes in this town for years.

      by MadAsHellMaddie on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 08:28:37 AM PDT

•  Another reason....

  not to watch his reality show where he is 45 and single.  Single because he is a Republican hypocrite loser?  He goes back to work out his relationships with all his old girlfriends- who like the uberChristian he really isn't, he should not have been boinking.  Seriously, ick on the whole concept, just ick.

  by murrayewv on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 07:43:00 AM PDT

•  What a...

  ... waste of pixels.

  by westegg on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 07:43:07 AM PDT

•  I don't want Charles in charge

  of my days or my nights.

  by clonecone on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 07:49:12 AM PDT

  •  "In charge"

    scary concept if he is a Republican.  What all torture and domination methods does it involve?

    by DemDachshund on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 08:11:01 AM PDT

  •  Chachi Loves Republicans

    Let's see, what else did he do? Wasn't he in Zapped? What can we do with that?

    by phenry on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 08:21:39 AM PDT

    •  Forget it was ever made?

      by clonecone on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 08:28:41 AM PDT

•  Say it ain't so, Chaci.

  Say it ain't so.

  by wmtriallawyer on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 07:58:52 AM PDT

•  Well, he always seemed

  pretty stupid even by child-actor standards.  Seems like he had porn-star taste in women, too, although it's been so long since anyone's written anything about him, it's hard to remember.

  It's kinda sad... the only broadly talented artist the GOP seems to have on their side is Mel Gibson, and his daddy & religious issues have become so apparent that you almost have to feel sorry for the poor bastard.  The rest of the celebrity-right contingent either have very limited skill sets or are washed up like the Scott Baios & Bo Dereks.  Really notable talent definitely doesn't lean right, and you'll notice that there are a lot more 'libertarians' in Hollywood these days.

  by latts on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 08:09:51 AM PDT

  •  The Republicans

    have James Woods and Kelsey Grammer. I kinda like Grammer. Or maybe it's Fraiser I like.

    by Aspe4 on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 08:30:45 AM PDT

    •  I'll give you Woods

      (he's pretty odd anyway) but Grammer, along with Drew Carey and a few others, has IMO a very narrow and specific set of abilities that he markets well.  It's not that they completely lack talent, more that they seem to devote far more energy to creating a niche to maximize those abilities than to developing new ones.  It makes good business sense, if you think about it, and requires a certain devotion to craft, but it's not what I'd call genuine artistry or anything.

      OTOH, I do think that even fairly limited actors who take a lot of risks and have opportunities to work with talented people can improve enormously.  I'm not a Tom Cruise fan, but when he commits to a strong director he can be quite impressive, much better than I ever would have thought in the mid-eighties.  I don't think a person can absorb talent, but craftsmanship can be learned up to a point.

      by latts on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 08:52:31 AM PDT

•  This diary could be renamed

  "Scott Baio Is Still Alive?"

  by jazzmaniac on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 08:17:41 AM PDT

•  Bob Loblaw is a Republican???

  Say it ain't so...

  by ScantronPresident on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 08:24:46 AM PDT

•  I voted presumptively!

  I voted for Obama before I saw Al Gore.  Dammit.  

  Scott Baio is a Republican?  Oh well, I'm to young to remember "Happy Days" anyway.

  So how come when an actor is a Liberal people don't want to take them seriously but the minute an actor is a conservative the sock puppet neocons are drooling all over them?

  by miproggrrl on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 08:57:00 AM PDT

  •  I mean it was a preemptive vote

    blame google spell check

    by miproggrrl on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 09:02:43 AM PDT

•  I find him icky in a sort of

  general way.  No reason his politics shouldn't fit the package.

  by CJB on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 09:38:35 AM PDT

•  The more important question...

  What were you doing on Scott Baio's wikipedia page?!

  You make an excellent point, though. I really hadn't even thought of it in that terms. It's funny that when I consider the question I come to the exact same candidates I'm already supporting - Gore and, to a lesser extend, Edwards.

  Clinton and Obama would make me proud of America in that we have come so far as to be able to elect a president from a formerly disenfranchised group, but the candidates themselves do very little for me. It also makes me sad when considering how 'crazy' and revolutionary it would be to have a female or black president how many other countries have crossed that bridge a long, long time ago.

  You pose a very interesting question. It could help illuminate how a great many people think; those that seem to tie so much of their identity in with the institutions they're part of. These are the ribbon-wearers - they like being on a team.

  by MiklCraw4d on Wed Jul 11, 2007 at 09:44:59 AM PDT